


One Little Mistake

by phoenixnz



Category: Smallville
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2020-02-26 11:09:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 27
Words: 115,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18715846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixnz/pseuds/phoenixnz
Summary: One little mistake can change an entire life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know I should be updating the other story, but thanks to my binge-watching another show, I got inspired. Let's just say that this first chapter is based on the background of this show I've been binge-watching, but I have no intention of copying the main premise of the show.

Annie Harrigan had a secret which she had never told anyone, but the moment she saw the young girl on the doorstep of the Smallville Inn, she knew she had found a kindred spirit, of sorts.

The Inn was normally closed for two weeks in the height of the summer. It was a rather old building, having been built well before the Civil War, in the early days of Kansas. It had once been a stately home but had been refurbished in the late eighties when Bed and Breakfast places in out-of-the-way towns became the rage.

Miss Harrigan - Bubsy to her friends - was a spinster in her early fifties. Almost everyone in Smallville had once asked her why she had never married and she had spoken of a love affair when she was young, but she had never given any more detail. Some speculated that the absent lover had been sent off to Vietnam and had never returned, but still, she never confirmed it.

None of that mattered that August day when she found the teenager almost passed out from the heat on her doorstep with her baby daughter in her arms.

There was nothing remarkable about mother and daughter, other than the fact that the infant had a shock of thick, dark hair and the most intense blue eyes that almost seemed to bore through whoever she was looking at. She was a rather cute little girl, even at four months. No doubt she would be a heartbreaker when she grew up, Bubsy declared to herself.

“I’m sorry,” the teen mumbled as she sat on the step. “I …”

“Goodness. How did you get here?” the older woman asked.

“Bus,” was all the girl would say. She was clearly suffering from heat exhaustion, her face flushed and sweaty. 

“You must come in out of this heat before you faint from dehydration, dear.”

“I don’t want to … I mean, I …”

The spinster shook her head and waved her hand in slight impatience. “Oh, pish … I know you think you’re imposing but come in before you both get heatstroke. I insist,” she added firmly.

She helped the girl to her feet, careful of the baby in her arms, and led her inside. She sat her down in the parlour, making sure she was in the coolest part of the room, before going out to the kitchen to find a pitcher of lemonade. She returned to find the girl trying to comfort the baby, which had started to cry. The infant’s cheeks were very red and she appeared to be also suffering from the heat.

“You can’t be hungry,” the girl was saying. “I just fed you. And your diaper’s not wet.”

“Perhaps she’s feeling the heat, love,” Bubsy told her. She set the pitcher and a glass on the table next to the armchair and reached out. The girl flinched. “It’s all right,” the older woman assured her. “I just want to check her temperature.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” The girl visibly relaxed and sat back. “Are you a doctor?”

“No, but I was a nurse before I took over the Inn.” She felt the baby’s forehead. “She’s hot but I think it is just the heat. Babies her age are prone to heat rash. How long have you been gone?”

“Gone?” the girl asked, frowning. “Um …”

“When did you run away?” she prompted gently.

“A month ago,” the teen said quietly. She was pretty, with long honey-blonde hair. It didn’t appear to be her natural colour as the older woman could see darker roots. She was thin, her face pale and drawn as if she’d lost a lot of weight in a very short time. She had no doubt the young mother had reserved all her energy into taking care of her baby, who, in spite of her current malaise, looked very well taken care of.

“Oh, you poor thing,” Bubsy said sympathetically. She didn’t press her for more information. “Are you hungry, dear? You look like you haven’t eaten a thing in days.”

“I don’t want to …”

She knew the girl was going to argue and waved her hand to dismiss any attempt at refusal before the girl could do so. She bustled about, making them both a good meal.

She learned the girl’s name was Lois Lane and her daughter’s was Kally. She again asked no questions, knowing that the eighteen-year-old would volunteer that information when she was ready.

With the aid of a cool washcloth and leaving her without clothes for a couple of hours, little Kally’s heat rash was soothed and she settled down to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms. Lois appeared less stressed now that someone else was there to help her take care of her daughter.

She sat in the armchair, drinking the lemonade.

“I can’t pay you …” she began.

“You don’t have to,” Bubsy replied. “I was once in the same situation as yourself.”

Lois frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s all right, dear. You see, when I was your age, I fell in love. With a wonderful man. But we were both very young and there was a war …”

“Vietnam,” Lois said quietly.

“Yes. Now, there are those in town who believe they know the truth, but they don’t. You see, he was engaged, to a girl his parents approved of. I was just a simple girl from a small town and I would never be suitable. The night before he shipped out to Vietnam we had … well, I think you know. I was seventeen.”

“So, what happened?” Lois asked, staring at the older woman. She suspected she knew what had happened, but didn’t want to seem like she was prying.

“Two months after he left I realised I was going to have a baby. Well, my parents were furious. Of course they were. They couldn’t have the town finding out such a scandal. As soon as they could arrange it they had me shipped off to a home for unwed mothers, telling friends I was helping out on a family farm.”

“What happened to the baby?”

“It was adopted out,” the woman said sadly. Lois could see the grief etched on her face. She knew enough about such situations that she could understand why the other woman was so grieved. “As soon as it was born, they took it away. I never even knew if it was a boy or a girl.”

“I’m so sorry,” Lois said sympathetically. While her father hadn’t been pleased about her pregnancy and had suggested she have the baby adopted out, she had known she couldn’t do that. Yet, she couldn’t live with the way he looked at her either. Like she’d brought shame on him.

“Anyway, my love returned from Vietnam and married the girl he was engaged to. I never saw him again.”

Lois’ heart broke for the older woman. Imagine falling in love with someone only to learn that she could never be with them.

She was glad Bubsy, as the other woman told her to call her, didn’t press her for more information. For the next week or so, Lois was left to her own devices.

She went into town with Bubsy a couple of times to help her with shopping, taking Kally with them. The town was quiet but they did run into a few people. It wasn’t long before she noticed townspeople whispering. She hated the stares from the older women, who even shot glares at Bubsy as if it was somehow her fault.

“Stupid old biddies,” Bubsy muttered. “They’ve got nothing better to do than gossip. I thought things would have got better once Nell left.”

“Who’s Nell?” Lois asked her once they were back at the Inn unloading the groceries.

“Oh, she used to own the Talon.”

“That place I saw boarded up?”

Bubsy nodded, pouring them both some lemonade. “It used to be the town’s only movie theatre, but then Lex Luthor decided to buy the property. He was planning on turning it into a parking garage but Nell’s niece convinced him to refurbish it and turn it into a coffee shop.”

“Lex Luthor?” She frowned. She remembered some article she’d read about Lionel Luthor being arrested on murder charges but only due to the fact it had something to do with her cousin. When she’d heard Chloe had been killed in an explosion, she had tried to find out what had happened, but with the baby and everything, she just hadn’t been able to. “I think he might know something about what happened to Chloe.”

Bubsy nodded in sympathy. “Yes, that was a terrible business. Is that why you decided to come to Smallville?”

Lois shrugged. “I didn’t really think about it, to be honest. I just … needed to get away.”

“Of course, sweetie.” She handed her a glass of lemonade. “So, what are your plans now?”

“I don’t know. Find a job, I guess. I have to do something to support Kally. I … I didn’t finish high school.”

“Well, there aren’t that many jobs around, except for the plant.” She looked thoughtful. “There is something around here … it doesn’t pay much, and you probably wouldn’t …”

“What is it?” Lois asked eagerly. “I’ll do anything. I will. I mean, it can’t be worse than scrubbing a bathroom floor with a toothbrush.”

She noted the older woman storing that bit of information away.

“One of my maids quit at the beginning of the summer and I hadn’t got around to advertising for another. I have a small cabin out behind the inn. You could set it up. For you and Kally. If you come to work for me as a maid, you would get free room and board and any tips you make would be yours.”

She was right. It wasn’t much, but then again, Lois wouldn’t have to pay rent, and they’d eat free. Bubsy had already told her about the food and nutrition program so she could get assistance there for various things Kally would need.

“I’ll do it,” she said.

Bubsy looked surprised at her quick decision.

“Are you sure you don’t want to think on it, sweetie? It’s hard work.”

“I know. I’ve never been afraid of hard work. And this is for my daughter.”

Everything was for her daughter. Whatever it took. She’d felt that way from the moment she’d discovered she was pregnant.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark returns but without his memory

It was the sound that brought him to full awareness. A sharp cracking sound that filled the air around him, heavy with a kind of energy that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. The next thing he became aware of was that he was lying on some kind of vegetation. It smelled almost charred, which was hardly surprising given the fact that as he opened his eyes he could see the flickering of flames from a few small fires. The third thing he became aware of was that he had not a stitch of clothing on him. Not that that concerned him.

He sat up and looked around him. The surroundings beyond the fires were pitch black. It was night. That much he understood. He got to his feet, continuing to look around. He had no idea where he was or what time of night it was. All he knew was that something, somewhere in the darkness, was waiting for him. Or he was waiting for it. He didn’t really know which.

He decided to start walking beyond the circle of flattened vegetation. He had no real sense of a destination in his mind. He just figured that he would find whatever it was he was looking for eventually.

Within a short time, he found himself on a flat, hard surface. Asphalt, he told himself, although he had no idea how he knew the word or what it was supposed to mean. The question now, however, was which direction did he choose?

As he stood there trying to decide where to go, lights from a vehicle shone brightly in the night. He turned to gaze at it. There was a squeal of brakes and the engine coughed as it stalled. Blinded by the brightness of those lights, he could only stare as he heard the sound of a door opening and footsteps running toward him.

“Oh my god! Are you okay? Did I hit you?”

He frowned at the feminine voice. It was soft but with a slight husky quality that he rather liked. He heard anxiety in the tone. She was clearly worried about something. There was almost a pregnant silence between them and he realised she was waiting for an answer.

“I am fine,” he said.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

He thought for a moment, blinking as he turned away. His name. It was … it was … It didn’t want to come. He should know his own name. Shouldn’t he? Did he have a name? Of course he had a name. It was … The realisation that he had no idea who he was felt like a hard knot in his stomach.

“I don’t know,” he said. He turned again to look fully at the woman from the car.

She was pretty, although rather thin. Her face had almost a pinched, worried look and she had circles under her eyes as if she had spent too many nights staying up too late.

He heard a sharp intake of breath from the woman. “Oh my god,” she said quietly, at a volume he suspected he wasn’t meant to have heard, but somehow had.

He stepped toward her but she stepped back, her expression taking on a sudden nervousness.

“Um, I should get you to a hospital,” she said.

“I am fine,” he repeated stiltedly.

She shook her head. “You’re standing naked in the middle of the road and if you were anywhere near where that lightning hit a few minutes ago, you probably … I’m thinking maybe you got struck. The hospital’s a couple miles from here.”

She turned away from him and hurried to the back of the car. He heard her mutter something about hoping there was a blanket of some kind or this could get very awkward. She returned to his side and handed him a garment.

“Put that around you,” she said. “Before you catch your death or something.”

He reluctantly allowed her to usher him into the car. He didn’t think he needed to go anywhere with this woman, especially not to a hospital. He had no idea how he knew what a hospital was but something in the back of his brain told him it was a place where they took the sick or injured.

Part of him wondered whether he should trust his new companion, but something, some instinct, told him that she was someone who could turn out to be very important to him. If only he understood why.

Lois drove in silence, acutely aware of the way her heart was pounding almost frantically in her chest. He was sitting so close beside her. If she put her hand on the gear shift she would be almost touching his leg. His bare leg. The blanket she’d given him barely covered his torso.

Oh God, why here? Why now? she wondered.

She didn’t know much about amnesia patients and had no idea if people with amnesia should be told the truth or if they should be allowed to come to it on their own. If he knew what she knew …

She bit her lip, thinking of her baby daughter in the care of her friend. Bubsy had offered to babysit Kally, telling her to take the night off. Lois had had errands to run in town and since Kally was again suffering from heat rash, she had been reluctant to take her knowing her almost five-month-old daughter would grizzle and perform. To top it off, she was cutting another tooth. The first one had been difficult enough, considering they had both been on the run.

Her friend and boss had insisted Lois take the small car while she ran her errands instead of walking into town. Bubsy had even told her to go grab dinner for herself at the local diner - take a real break from Kally. Not that she didn’t love her daughter, but the older woman had told her it was important she take some time for herself as well. Lois had even had time to stop in at the local newspaper office, hoping she might be able to find some answers as to what had happened to her beloved cousin.

Chloe.

She sneaked a glance at the man sitting beside her. They’d been silent for the past ten minutes as she had driven along the highway. Lois hated uncomfortable silences. It stemmed from years of sitting opposite her father, who was stoic at best and uncommunicative most of the time.

She wondered what he would do if she told him she knew him. Had known him intimately. Or at least, as intimate as two people could be who had slept together one night. It had all been because of Chloe. If she hadn’t decided to go out clubbing with her Daily Planet colleagues one night, and if Lois hadn’t decided to join her, neither of them would be here.

_Almost Fourteen Months Earlier_

_Lois’ father had been sent on a mission overseas. It was one of those missions that he was never allowed to talk about. Top secret, hush-hush. She wasn’t even allowed to know if he was going into a war zone, although it was more than likely. He’d told her to stay on base but Lois was almost seventeen and considered herself mature enough to be able to go anywhere she liked and do anything she liked._

_Without telling anyone on base where she was going, Lois had decided to visit Metropolis. Her cousin Chloe lived in a small town about an hour or so away but was working part-time at the city’s biggest newspaper. She chose to stay with a friend of the family when she was going to be in the city late instead of driving back to her father’s place in Smallville._

_She was not surprised when Lois turned up at the Daily Planet. They had been sending texts back and forth and Lois had mentioned wanting to get away from the Missouri base for a few days._   
_Chloe was packing up for the day when Lois entered._

_“Hey,” her cousin said, coming around the desk to give her a quick hug. “When did you get in?”_

_“Just now. I thought we could …”_

_“Grab a bite to eat? Sure.”_

_A woman a few years older than Chloe paused by the desk._

_“You still coming with us tonight?”_

_“Sure,” the blonde replied. “Can I meet you there? My cousin just got into town.”_

_“Yeah, no problem. See you around ten-ish?”_

_“Sounds good.”_

_Lois soon found out where ‘there’ was. A club called Atlantis on the fringes of the city centre. According to Chloe it was an extremely popular nightclub where the bouncers looked the other way as long as the fake i.d. looked passable. Lois had used a fake i.d. to get into a club once before and she knew how to get around bouncers._

_The club was loud and filled with bodies dancing way too close to be decent. In the first hour, Lois was sure she had seen a few drug deals go down and a guy she didn’t know had tried to stick his tongue down her throat. She might not exactly be a ‘good girl’ but she wasn’t stupid enough to fall for that, knowing he was more than likely to have a tab of Ecstasy or something else that he was hoping to slip her. She might have been smoking since she was fifteen and had drunk shots with Navy Seals and Green Berets but she refused to cross that line._

_She had decided to take a break from dancing when Chloe went off to get them some drinks. Her cousin had been a little distracted but when Lois had asked her what was up, she had brushed off the enquiry, saying it was nothing. Yet from the way the blonde was looking around, it seemed to Lois that she was hoping to see someone and was disappointed when they hadn’t shown up._

_Lois turned to go look for a table when she bumped into someone. The man was tall and extremely well-built. He gripped her arm as if to steady her._

_“Going somewhere?” he asked._

_“Yes, not that it’s any of your business,” she told him brusquely._

_“I like the way you dance,” he said._

_“That’s nice.” She tensed. “You’ve been watching me?”_

_He nodded, giving a disarming grin, showing pointed incisors in the corners of his mouth. He was very good-looking but the shape of his teeth added a certain kind of charm._

_“From over there,” he said, nodding toward a dark corner. She knew from what she’d seen already that night that that was where most of the drug dealing went on, but something told her that wasn’t why he’d been there._

_“Well, why don’t you go back over there and keep watching,” she returned snarkily._

_He laughed as if that was the funniest thing he’d heard all night. “You’re cute. Feisty too. I like that.”_

_“Charming,” she replied, feeling the weight of his appreciative gaze as he looked her up and down. Like he was sizing her up. For what, she didn’t know._

_He pulled her close and she tried to push him away._

_“Hey, personal space, buddy!”_

_“Kal. Not Buddy.”_

_“Whatever.” She again tried to pull away._

_“Tell me your name.”_

_“Why?”_

_“Because I want to get to know you.” His grin was pure arrogance._

_“Well, maybe I don’t want to get to know you. Let go.” She wrenched her arm out of his grip and turned away, just as Chloe managed to get through the crowd. She took her drink from her cousin and looked around but the man was gone._

_Chloe decided to leave an hour or so later since she had to get back to Smallville the next day. Lois stayed long enough to go to the bathroom, saying she would meet her cousin at the friend’s place. On her way out, she was accosted by a few men asking her to dance but she refused._

_A few minutes later she was able to get back outside and past the line of people still waiting to get inside the club. As she started for her car, she spotted the young man from earlier. He was on his knees on the pavement opposite the club, almost as if he had been throwing up. She hesitated, thinking she shouldn’t get involved, but she knew she would never forgive herself if she ignored someone who might need help._

_She crossed the street and approached him, touching him gently on the shoulder._

_“Hey, are you okay?”_

_He flinched and pulled away. “Don’t …” he said. She frowned. It didn’t sound like someone who was sick. It sounded like someone who was in pain._

_“Do you need someone? A doctor, maybe?” she asked gently._

_He shook his head. “No doctor. I’ll be fine. I just … need a minute.”_

_“Look, my car’s just down the street. I can drive you home.”_

_He looked up at her. She couldn’t see much in the darkness but she thought she saw the glint of tears in his eyes. She decided she either imagined it or it was just the reflection from the street light._

_“Lois,” she said. “My name’s Lois.”_

_“Kal,” he replied. She nodded._

_“Yeah, I know. You told me back in the club.”_

_He gazed at her for a long moment. Gone was that apparent arrogance, replaced by an uncertainty._

_“I promise I’m not an axe murderer,” she told him. He bowed his head and his shoulders shook with laughter. He let her help him to his feet and they walked together to her car._

_“Did you have a little too much to drink?” she asked._

_“Something like that,” he said._

_“Well, the trick with learning to hold your liquor is to pace yourself,” she told him. “I learned that the hard way when I was drinking with some of my dad’s buddies.”_

_“Your dad?”_

_“He’s in the army. He’s off on some top-secret mission somewhere. I don’t know where. It’s one of those, ‘if I tell you I’ll have to kill you kind of deals’. Anyway, I was bored on base so I decided to come visit my cousin. She lives around here. Well, not here exactly. Some place out in the middle of Podunk.” She rolled her eyes. “Like I could ever live in a place where everybody knows everybody else’s business.”_

_Kal sounded amused as she continued to babble on._

_“You talk a lot,” he said._

_“Yeah, I do. It’s one of my failings.”_

_He looked at her with a smile. “Actually, I kind of like it. It’s cute.”_

_She raised her eyebrows. “Cute? You think babbling is cute? Okay, you’re either so drunk you won’t even remember this conversation in the morning or …”_

_“Will you still be there in the morning?” he asked._

_She stared at him. “What?”_

_“Well, you just said I won’t remember this conversation in the morning.”_

_“I didn’t mean … I mean …” Thankfully they ‘d reached her car. She took her keys out of her bag and unlocked the car door, ushering him inside. She quickly went around to open her door and turned on the ignition. Kal sat in the passenger seat._

_“I’m sorry.”_

_“For what?”_

_“I made you uncomfortable.”_

_She didn’t get him. In the club he was arrogant to the point of being obnoxious but now it was like he was a completely different person. He was almost … nice._

_She glanced over and noticed he was holding something in his right hand. Turning it over and over. She frowned, trying to see what it was but whatever it was seemed to be dwarfed by his big hand. All she could tell was that it was metal._

_“Um, so where do you live?” she asked._

_“It’s a few blocks from here. Go down the street and make a right.”_

_It was a short drive from the club to the apartment building. Lois wondered if Kal was rich or something as the building was fairly modern and she guessed the apartments would be fairly expensive to rent._

_She stopped the car and waited for Kal to get out. He remained seated and looked at her._

_“Do you want to come up?” he asked._

_“I don’t know,” she said._

_“I promise I’m not an axe murderer,” he replied, trying for a disarming smile. She snorted._

_“Sure. Throw that back in my face, why don’t you?”_

_He bit his lip. “I just … I don’t feel like being alone.”_

_“Kal …”_

_“Please? Just for a little while.”_

_“I should really ….”_

_“If you’re worried about your cousin, you can call her.”_

_She bit her lip as she studied him. He looked at her pleadingly. Lois was not in the habit of picking up strangers in the street, let alone going home with them but he just looked so pathetic she knew she couldn’t leave him alone. It seemed to her like he was going through something and he probably just needed to talk to someone._

_“All right,” she said, relenting. “Just for a little while.”_

_She followed him into the building and waited as he activated the elevator. They stood in silence as the car travelled to level seven. A few seconds later he opened the door to apartment 701 and led her inside._

_“Do you want something to drink?” he asked quietly._

_“No,” she said._

_He gestured to a leather couch, before sitting down in an armchair in the same style. Lois sat down, putting her bag on the seat next to her._

_“So.”_

_“Yeah.”_

_“You’re feeling better now?” she asked, noticing he was still playing with whatever it was in his hand._

_“A little. I guess you were right before. I just had a little too much to drink.”_

_She doubted it. She’d been around drunks before and he was not acting like someone who had drunk too much. He looked almost dead sober. There was something else going on, she decided._

_The silence between them was palpable. She didn’t know what to say or what to do._

_“Maybe I should …”_

_“Why are you here?” he asked abruptly._

_She frowned at him. “You asked me.”_

_“No. I mean in Metropolis. You said something about your dad.”_

_She nodded. “He’s a general. In the army. He goes away a lot.”_

_“So … how old are you?”_

_“That’s kind of a personal question,” she said._

_“I just … I mean, you live with your dad on an army base so you’re not in college or anything.”_

_She nodded, seeing his point. “I’ll be seventeen next month.” She chose not to ask him how old he was. He had to be older than her, since he was living on his own. He looked older. Then again, what did she know? She had always been a poor judge of people’s ages._

_“What about you, Kal? What’s your story?”_

_“Nothing to tell.”_

_“Where are you from?”_

_“Some place I want to forget,” he said. She detected a note of grief in his voice. It sounded to her as if something bad had happened._

_“I’m sorry.”_

_He shrugged. “Not your fault.”_

_“I’m not from anywhere, really. My dad gets transferred a lot. Sometimes I feel like a spare piece of luggage rather than his kid.”_

_“What about your mom?”_

_“She died. A long time ago.”_

_“I’m sorry,” he said, echoing her earlier sentiment._

_She shrugged. “Don’t be. Unless you were the one who got her hooked on smoking cigarettes behind the high school gym.”_

_“Yeah, well I don’t think time travel’s been invented yet,” he returned, giving her a cheesy grin._

_She laughed softly. They moved on to talking about other things, eventually getting comfortable enough with each other to exchange banter. Kal convinced her to stay and watch a movie with him._

_She didn’t realise she had fallen asleep until she woke up to find it was daylight and the apartment was empty. She sat up on the couch, looking around with a frown._

_“Kal,” she called._

_She heard the sound of the elevator operating and a few seconds later the door opened. Kal came in carrying a takeout tray of drinks and a paper bag._

_“Breakfast,” he said._

_She studied him, noticing he appeared to be a little more sure of himself than the night before. A little brash._

_“I thought we could eat and then go for a ride up north,” he said._

_“Ride?” she asked._

_“On my bike.”_

_“I should really …”_

_He sighed, sounding a little annoyed. “Don’t say you have to go home, Lois. I’m just asking you to spend the day with me. It’s not like you have any place else to be.”_

_He was right about that, she thought. When she’d called Chloe the night before to let her know she had met up with a friend, her cousin had sounded rather put out. She and Chloe were a lot alike. Her cousin tended to be the type to not forget or forgive a rebuff easily. Even if it had been unintentional._

_Lois clung to Kal with her arms around his waist as he drove them out of the city. She had been on a motorcycle before but her last ride hadn’t been this far or this fast. Kal had laughed when she had hesitated to get on behind him._

_“Not scared are you?”_

_She dismissed him with a ‘pfft’. “Me? No!”_

_“Right. Hurry up and get on.”_

_An hour or so later found them near the man-made lake. Kal stopped his bike outside a diner on Highway 77. It was well after noon. Lois’ stomach rumbled at the aroma coming from the diner’s kitchen._

_“I come here sometimes when I just want to get away from the city,” Kal told her coolly as if in answer to her unuttered query._

_“Oh.”_

_They ordered food and sat talking for a while. Lois thought they would have talked themselves out the night before but they still managed to find some subjects they hadn’t yet covered. Lois picked up a copy of the Daily Planet and noticed a front page story about a mystery man going around robbing banks and ATMs._

_“Guy’s got some balls, huh?” she asked._

_Kal flinched. “So?”_

_“I just meant … I mean, the way he’s taunting the cops and stuff. I’m not saying I like it. Someone like that would be pretty dangerous. That’s all I’m saying.”_

_He visibly relaxed. “Well, don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”_

_“Well, I doubt I’ll run into him anytime soon,” she said. “So thanks for the offer.”_

_He laughed but his laugh had a false ring to it. Lois wondered what that was all about but he quickly changed the subject._

_They rode around on the bike for a while before returning to the city late that night. Kal stopped the motorcycle and turned off the engine. Lois got off._

_“It was a nice day,” she said. “Thanks.”_

_He reached for her hand before she could go to her car. “Stay.”_

_“I can’t. I should …”_

_“Don’t say you can’t. It’s not like your father’s gonna come beating down my door.”_

_She hesitated. She had enjoyed the day out with him but there had been moments when he had seemed a little ‘Jekyll and Hyde’. Almost as if he was two different people. He could be alternately arrogant and obnoxious, then sweet and gentle._

_“Stay,” he said again._

_She found herself relenting once more, unable to resist those beautiful blue eyes and the pleading expression._

_The next morning she woke in his bed wondering what she’d done. The bed was empty beside her and the apartment felt just as empty. She slipped out of bed, pulling the sheet up to cover her nakedness. She was sore, her body aching._

_She tried to make sense of what had happened in her head. Kal had been charm itself, supplying her with dinner and even beer, since he’d discovered she preferred that to wine. He’d seduced her with humour and long, soulful gazes, but for all that, once they’d gone to bed together, it was almost as if he didn’t really know what he was doing. He’d been a little too clumsy, almost aggressive, a little too insensitive to what she needed. She had slept with only one other guy before him so it hadn’t been her first time, but it had hurt almost as much as then._

_As she began putting on her clothes, her movements slow and deliberate so as not to aggravate the soreness, the door opened and Kal strode in. He frowned at her._

_“I thought you would have …”_

_“Would have what?” she asked._

_“Nothing. Never mind. Um, something’s come up. You need to go.”_

_She had barely managed to get her jeans on and he was trying to usher her to the door._

_“Kal!” she exclaimed. “You’re rushing me.”_

_“I’m sorry, it’s just … I figured you’d need to head back to your dad’s. Or something.”_

_She stared at him as she slowly put her arms through the sleeves of her blouse._

_“Uh, yeah, I guess I should,” she said._

_He appeared to relent. “I really like you, Lois. I’ll call you. I promise.”_

_She nodded, biting back the urge to cry. He wouldn’t call. She knew he wouldn’t._

Lois sighed as she pulled up outside Smallville Medical Centre. She hadn’t heard from Kal in over a year. Now he was here and he had no idea who she was. He didn’t even know who he was. Just how was she supposed to handle this? And how could she tell this man that he was a father?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois finds out Kal's real identity. Clark goes looking for answers.

Bubsy wasn’t worried about Lois even though she was late. The young mother was clearly an independent girl and she was sure the teen was just out making the most of her free time. She really didn’t mind keeping an eye on Kally, who was sleeping soundly in the little crib Lois had found in the Smallville Goodwill Store. It was nothing fancy, but it had obviously been made by loving hands, little decals carved in the wood.

The pair had turned up on her doorstep almost a month ago and already Lois had become almost like family. Bubsy had felt it the moment she’d seen the poor waif. She certainly didn’t go about confessing the sins of her past to anyone. Not even her closest friends in town knew the truth, but there had been something about Lois that had made her feel she could tell her.

She looked down on the infant. Little Kally was sound asleep. Thankfully the heat rash hadn’t been as bad as the month before and the teething had been taken care of with a washcloth having been placed in the freezer. Bubsy smiled and gently stroked the baby’s rosy cheek. She was still a little flushed, but that was probably due to the sore gum, she decided. Her nursing career hadn’t really included caring for babies but she knew enough and what she couldn’t remember she could look up online.

The phone on the table beside her began to ring. Luckily the sleeping child didn’t wake as she picked up the handset and pressed the key to answer the call.

“Smallville Inn. Miss Harrington speaking.”

“Bubsy? It’s Lois.”

“Hello, sweetheart. Are you on your way home?”

The teen’s voice sounded almost apologetic. “I’ve been delayed. I kind of ran into someone on the road. Well, not really, but … I took him to the hospital and they won’t let me leave until they can identify him. He didn’t have anything on him and doesn’t even know his own name.”

She clucked in sympathy.

“Oh, the poor love. Don’t you worry, dear. Kally is sleeping like an angel. You just come home when you can.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Lois hung up the phone, relieved that her friend wasn’t too worried about why she was delayed. She glanced at the clock. They’d been waiting in the room for almost forty-five minutes. Not that that was all that long in the grand scheme of things, but she couldn’t help worrying about her daughter. Afraid she might say something to Kal.

She looked at him. He was sitting on the bed, practically staring into space. The hospital orderly or whatever he was had at least managed to find Kal some scrubs so he was no longer naked. Lois smiled as she thought of the reaction of the elderly lady when Kal had shucked off the blanket and stood without clothes in the middle of the waiting room.

Suddenly he got up from the bed and started for the door. She intercepted him.

“Wait. What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving,” he said.

“You can’t. You have to wait for the doctor.”

“I’m fine. I do not need to see a doctor.”

“Well, that’s for the doctor to decide,” she told him. “You can’t just …”

Without warning he gripped her arms just below her shoulders and picked her up, before turning to put her down again so she was away from the doorway. Lois was taken aback. She knew from experience he was strong but hadn’t known he was strong enough to lift her as if she was a featherweight.

She ran out after him, chasing him along the corridor.

“Wait, you can’t just …” He ignored her. “Kal!”

He stopped mid-stride and turned to stare at her. “What did you call me?” he asked in almost an accusatory tone.

“I …” God, it had just slipped out. What the hell was she supposed to do now?

Fortunately she was saved by the appearance of an older woman with red hair. The woman called out the name ‘Clark’, pursuing them as Kal turned down the corridor. She reached for him and pulled him around to face her.

“It is you!”

Kal stared at her, confused. He clearly didn’t recognise her.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m your mother,” she said. She appeared grieved as she looked at the man. “Don’t you know me?”

Lois felt the need to intervene. “Uh, I think he was struck by lightning,” she said. “He doesn’t know who he is.”

Kal turned to stare at her. From the look on his face she realised he remembered what she’d called out and was about to question her about it, but the older woman again caught his attention.

“I should get you home.”

“I’m waiting for the sign,” he said. Lois frowned. It was the first time since she’d found him that he’d given any indication of what he was doing out on route 31.

“Um, maybe you should wait for the doctor,” Lois told the other woman gently, thinking that perhaps Kal had suffered brain damage or something.

“Thank you, but this is a family matter.” The woman turned back to her son, who was once more staring at Lois. “You need to come home with me,” she said. Kal ignored her until she forced him to look at her. “I can help you find the sign.” That seemed to interest him so she was able to lead him away, leaving Lois to just stand there staring after them in disbelief.

She turned away, only to bump into the orderly from before.

“Where is he?” the man asked.

“He just went off with his mother,” she replied, pointing to the elevator where the woman was waiting for the doors to open.

“That’s Martha Kent. She’s in here all the time.”

Kent? Lois vaguely remembered Chloe talking about a friend named Clark Kent. If this was Clark, then who was Kal? Did he have a twin or something? But that didn’t explain his reaction to her calling him Kal either, she thought.

It was a mystery. One she couldn’t possibly solve tonight.

She returned to the inn. Bubsy was waiting for her in the little cabin, sitting in the rocking chair Lois had managed to pick up with her first lot of tips from housekeeping at the Goodwill store. The older woman looked up from her book and stood up, putting the volume down on the table.

“She’s still sleeping like an angel,” she said quietly. “How are you, sweetie?”

“I’m fine,” Lois said, taking off her jacket and draping it on the arm of the chair.

“What happened to the young man?” her friend asked.

Lois related what had happened as best she could. Bubsy nodded.

“Oh yes, Martha Kent. Her husband Jonathan is in the hospital. He’s been in a coma for three months. Clark, you say? Hmm, those old biddies in town kept saying something about Clark being missing. Last summer he ran away to the city. There was some kind of tragedy on the farm, but …” She looked at Lois and must have seen something in her face as she stopped. “Oh dear. What is it?”

“I …” As much as she liked the older woman, she wasn’t sure she could tell her about her encounter with Kal in Metropolis. At least, not until she was sure of the whole situation herself. “I don’t know. It’s just been a long night.”

“Well, don’t you worry dear. Why don’t you get ready for bed? Get a good night’s sleep so you can be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning.”

Lois nodded. She had an early start, since there would be a couple of guests checking out. The work wasn’t too taxing but Bubsy had certain standards the staff had to maintain.

Her friend left the cabin to go to her own room on the top floor of the inn. Lois sighed and sat down next to the crib, watching her daughter sleeping soundly.

“I met your daddy tonight,” she said. “I don’t think he even remembers me.” Part of her hoped he hadn’t. Her greatest fear was that someone would take her daughter away from her. She would protect her baby with her life if that happened.

Three days later

Clark left the farm feeling a little dejected. While he was glad his father was out of his coma and doing well, he felt out of sorts. His memory of the last three months was a little hazy but he remembered with extreme clarity the young woman who had almost run into him on the side of the road.

Just as he remembered her from over a year earlier.

He’d tried to get information out of the hospital administration on where Lois was staying, but they had refused to give that out. He had figured if he could find her he could at least talk to her and maybe try to make up for the way he’d left things in Metropolis. He’d promised to call her and he hadn’t. Or rather, Kal had. At least, that was the name he’d been going under while he’d been under the influence of the red Kryptonite.

He still remembered the night they’d met. How she’d seemed so worried when she’d found him practically on his knees, his chest burning from whatever punishment Jor-El had seen fit to dole out. He’d let her believe the reason he’d been that way was because he’d had too much to drink rather than the pain from the scar. Removing the ring had helped somewhat, but he’d still been shaky.

For some reason that night he hadn’t wanted to be alone and she had been so caring, so sympathetic that he had found himself enjoying her company. So much that he’d begged her to stay and watch a movie with him in his apartment. He’d liked talking with her, bantering with her. Lois gave as good as she got.

She’d reminded him a little of Chloe. He’d already guessed she was Chloe’s cousin, since he’d seen them together at Atlantis. He hadn’t wanted his best friend to see him so when she’d returned to Lois’ side with drinks he’d taken the opportunity to slip away where he could resume watching them.

Normally he’d take a girl to the club where sooner or later something would happen to piss her off and she’d leave but Lois had been different. She hadn’t been impressed by his efforts to get her to dance with him. When she’d driven him home, he’d realised she wasn’t like the other girls. She wasn’t interested in the way ‘Kal’ threw his weight around.

That was why he’d asked her to spend the day with him. For the first time in the month or so since he’d left Smallville, he hadn’t felt so alone. Maybe part of him had recognised some degree of loneliness in her.

He hadn’t planned on sleeping with her. The tiny part of him that wasn’t under the influence of the red K had realised he’d somehow hurt her that night. He’d always been afraid to get too close to someone for that very reason, but as Kal, without any of his inhibitions, he’d only cared about getting what he wanted. And what he’d wanted was her.  
At least, then. Once he’d got what he wanted, he’d discarded her like the rubber sheath he’d thrown away after their night of intimacy.

Kal-El hadn’t cared either, he thought. Kal-El had been focused on Jor-El’s mission. Even if he hadn’t known who he was in those first few hours since he’d emerged from the cave. Clark remembered Lois calling out his name – the name she’d only known him by in Metropolis, and Kal-El had paused, torn between completing his mission and returning to the side of the woman who had lied to him about not knowing who he was.

There had to be some reason why she had done so, he thought. Maybe it had something to do with the amnesia. Maybe she believed that he needed to recover his memory on his own. Without her help. That had to be it. What other reason could there be?

With a heavy sigh, Clark made his way to the cemetery. His mother had told him that Chloe had apparently died in a huge explosion and while he didn’t want to believe his best friend was dead, he at least figured he should pay his respects.

To his surprise, Lois was crouched down by the grave, talking about hating funerals and feeling alone.

“You’re not alone, Lois,” he said.

She stood up suddenly, obviously startled. She stared at him.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to pay my respects to my friend,” he said.

She snorted. “Right! So which one are you today? Jekyll or Hyde?”

She’d once referred to that on the day they’d gone out on his dad’s motorcycle. He knew he’d confused her with the way he’d seemed to change personalities every so often. He couldn’t explain exactly how the red K affected him or why he’d acted the way he did.

He realised from her reaction that she’d realised he knew exactly who she was.

“I’m just Clark.”

“So what happened to Kal?” she asked, glaring at him. He understood she was hurt and angry. He couldn’t really blame her for that.

“Kal was just a name I used last summer. That’s all.”

“That’s all? So all that about how you said you’d call, what was that?”

“Lois, I can’t explain my actions last summer. I just … wasn’t myself then.”

“Well, then who were you?” she shouted suddenly. “I mean, who the hell are you, Clark? Are you Kal the a$shole or are you just some jerk who just decided it would be fun to yank my chain and then kick me to the kerb?”

“I told you, I can’t explain. I know I hurt you and I’m sorry. If there’s any way I can make it up to you …”

She seemed to calm down, turning to look at the gravestone. Clark read the inscription. Chloe Sullivan. 1987 – 2004. Beloved Daughter. He swallowed, feeling tears threatening.

“You want to make it up to me?” Lois said. “Find out what happened to my cousin.”

He frowned at her. He would have thought she would want to investigate this.

“I’d help you if I could, but I have, uh, other things I need to do,” she said. She looked around. “I have to go.”

“Wait, at least let me …”

She shook her head. “I can’t.”

“But where can I …”

“I’ll find you. The Kent Farm, right?”

He frowned, wondering how she knew that. He guessed Chloe must have told her.

His inspection of the site where the explosion had occurred yielded nothing, except being chased off by what he assumed was the military, although why the military would be involved in a Federal case he didn’t know.

He returned to the farm to discover that his father had been discharged from the hospital. Only three days ago he’d been in almost a vegetative state yet the doctors couldn’t explain why he’d come out of it. Nor why he’d recovered so quickly that he was able to be discharged so soon.

His parents weren’t happy to learn where he’d been.

“Clark, that is a federal crime scene,” his father admonished him.

“I know, Dad, but I have to find out what happened to Chloe.” Lois was right. It was the least he could do for her, given how he’d treated her.

The older man expressed hope that the men at the crime scene hadn’t identified him or seen him use his heat vision on the engine of the helicopter. It wasn’t long before that hope was soon quashed.

Taking a leaf out of his best friend’s book, Clark had gone to the Torch office at the school and used the computer to do a little research. He’d discovered that Luthorcorp had paid for Chloe’s funeral. Knowing Lex as he did, he assumed it was out of guilt or not wanting any reprisals from her family, but the cynic in him wondered if there was a completely different reason. Like maybe Lex was trying to cover up something.

He returned home to find they had a visitor. General Sam Lane had turned up, in a helicopter, no less. It seemed that he’d been identified after all. His parents were cordial to the army commander and shot glares at Clark when his greeting was less enthusiastic.

“You want to tell me what you were doing at that crime scene, young man?” the general asked.

‘Young man’? Clark refrained from rolling his eyes at the way the older man spoke to him. He wondered if this was Lois’ father, remembering she had talked about him being an army general.

“Trying to find out what happened to Chloe,” he said.

The man glared at him. He was somewhat shorter than Clark, and stocky in build. He had a military bearing and a manner which suggested he was used to intimidating others. Clark glared back at the man, standing tall and straight, taking full advantage of his height of six three to show the general he was not going to be intimidated.

He watched as the visitor took out a box of cigars, pulling one out and unwrapping it. He chomped on the unlit cigar.

“The FBI closed the file,” Clark continued. “I didn’t think it would matter.”

“The Feds may have closed the file, but it is still considered off-limits. That is where my niece died. Do you think I enjoy seeing …”

“No, sir, but then I don’t think Chloe’s dead.”

“And what makes you think that, young man?”

“Just a feeling,” he replied quietly. He hadn’t told his parents he’d actually x-rayed the grave and seen an empty coffin. The general huffed in annoyance.

“Stay out of it,” he returned gruffly before turning on his heel and walking out the door. Clark’s parents joined the man on the porch. Clark could hear them talking quietly but chose not to use his super-hearing.

He decided to follow up on his Luthorcorp lead and went to see Lex. His ex-best friend tried to pretend the incident with the ‘room’ hadn’t happened last spring but Clark wasn’t going to forget the way the bald man had been investigating him behind his back. So much for being a good guy, he thought bitterly as he left the manor.

He hadn’t left empty-handed, having picked up on yet another clue. General Lane was working with Lex in some capacity. The cigar stub proved it.

Chloe would be proud, he thought as he continued to follow the trail, right to the old foundry. Sure enough, he found her, just as a man was trying to strangle her to death. The weird thing was the man had the strange ability to turn his arm into some kind of metal, almost like the T-1000 in the second Terminator movie.

He was able to quickly deal with that with the aid of his heat vision. Chloe cried when he scooped her up, practically hugging the stuffing out of her.

“I’m so glad to see you,” she said.

He grinned. “Me too.”

“Let’s get out of here,” the blonde said. “So I can put the final nail in Lionel Luthor’s coffin.”

“You bet.”

Of course, when Lex and the general found out that Clark had gone ahead and done exactly what they’d told him not to do, they’d been furious. However, since Clark had saved the key witness in the trial’s life, he got a pass. From Lex anyway. The general told him he would let the matter drop but he was still going to keep an eye on things.

Chloe told him the general was now based at Fort Ryan, the army base about twenty miles out of town. He was now overseeing operations there.

Clark was relieved when the trial concluded with the conviction of Lionel Luthor for conspiracy to commit murder. The day the news came out in the Daily Planet he had a visitor at the farm. He was busy doing his chores when she appeared in the doorway.

“Hi,” she said.

He looked up and smiled. “Hi, yourself.”

“I just … I came to say thanks. For Chloe. You saved her.”

He shrugged. “She’s my friend.”

Lois nodded. “Well, she’s my cousin.” She pulled a phone out of her jeans pocket and looked at it. “I gotta go. Work. You know.” She turned away and began walking back down the drive. Clark noticed she’d parked on the road.

He bit his lip, then downed tools, moving quickly to catch up with her.

“Lois, why don’t you … I mean, could I get your phone number at least?”

She gazed at him for a long moment. “I don’t know, Smallville. I’ve just … I’ve got a lot going on.”

“Look, I know last year we kind of left things on a sour note but I’d really like the chance to get to know you. No pressure.”

He didn’t know where he wanted this to go. After all, he had slept with her. She was the first woman he’d ever slept with. He didn’t know how he felt about her, but he knew he wanted to at least try to build some kind of friendship with her. Maybe things had ended badly between them but for a while there he’d felt some kind of connection with her.

She still looked dubious. Clark knew if he didn’t do something he would regret it. Maybe if he put the ball in her court, so to speak …

“Or I could give you my number,” he said. “Then you can call me. If you want to.”

She nodded and handed over her phone. Clark quickly added his number to her contacts. She took the phone back and began walking to her car. He watched her go.

Small steps, he thought. Small steps. 

Chloe was in the Torch office the next day, getting the school newspaper ready for the first day of their senior year. As the Talon had also been opened back up again, Clark went and bought his friend her favourite coffee.

The blonde looked surprised but pleased to see him.

“I never expected to see you here the day before school,” she said.

“I guess I figured I’d get a head start on my boy scout badge,” he replied with a grin, handing over the cup of coffee. Chloe grinned in return.

“Well, you’re certainly going the right way about it,” she told him. She sipped from the cup. “Mmm, you even got my favourite. Who are you and what did you do with the real Clark Kent?”

“Ha ha, very funny.” He grabbed a chair and swivelled it around, sitting with his chest facing the back so he could lean on the top and watch her work.

“So, General Lane, he’s your uncle, right?” He knew that anyway, but it was the only way to lead into the conversation.

Chloe’s attention was on the screen in front of her but she made a non-committal sound which he took to be assent.

“Your cousin’s name is Lois?”

“Yeah. And there’s Lucy. Only she’s at a boarding school in Europe. Switzerland, I think. Or was it Germany? I forgot.”

“So, uh, how much have you told Lois about me?” he asked, trying to keep his tone casual.

Chloe turned from the monitor to stare at him. “What do you mean, Clark? Why are you so interested?”

“Um, I sort of met her. In … Smallville.” He chose not to mention Metropolis, not wanting to open up that particular can of worms.

Chloe stared at him in disbelief. “What? How? I mean, she’s here? Are you sure?”

“As sure as I’m sitting here talking to you. She was visiting your grave. Your empty one. That’s where I found her.”

He chose not to say anything about Lois almost running into him on Route 31. Or her visit to the farm. He had a feeling there was much more to the reason she had been out there in the first place.

Chloe looked almost alarmed and he worried he’d perhaps said too much. He told her it was more than likely that Lois had probably left town already since it had been two weeks since that meeting. She obviously had some reason why she didn’t want her cousin to know she was here or else Chloe would know about it already.

“Clark, Lois ran away from my uncle’s place two months ago!”

He stared at her. “What?”

The blonde nodded. “Uncle Sam’s been frantic. He’s had guys looking up and down the country for her. God, what is she …”

“But she’s eighteen, right?” He remembered she’d been almost seventeen when they’d first met. She’d told him her birthday was in early August, which meant she was now eighteen. “Why would he be looking for her?”

“Because of his grand-daughter.”

He blinked. “Grand-daughter?”

Chloe nodded again. “Lois got pregnant just over a year ago. She wouldn’t tell her dad who the father was. Just that he was some guy she met while he was on a mission overseas. Which is weird because she came to Metropolis to stay with me for a couple of days. Remember when I had that column at the Daily Planet?” She sighed, an odd expression crossing her face. “Wait. I remember. She didn’t actually end up staying with me. She said she met up with a friend and stayed with them instead. I wonder if that’s when she met the dad.”

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. If everything Chloe had been told was true then he … There was no other explanation. The colour drained from his face as he realised exactly what it all meant.

“Uh, so do you know the name?”

“Of the father? No. I just told you that.”

“No, I mean, your uncle’s grand-daughter.”

“Yeah. It’s Kally. With a K.”

Oh my god! he thought. I’m a father.

Why didn’t you tell me? he asked Lois silently.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois has a visitor

Lois loved the precious moments she got to spend with her daughter. Even if those moments were spent changing a diaper. She sipped a cup of coffee and watched the chubby infant laying on her back on the floor of their cabin, her limbs flailing every which way as she giggled and babbled.

She picked up a plastic rattle and shook it. Kally reached for it, one end going straight into her mouth.

“Oh great, now it’s gonna have your drool all over it,” Lois complained half-heartedly. Kally babbled something at her, using one hand to shake the rattle experimentally. She seemed delighted with her efforts.

Lois heard a tap on her door and got up to answer it. Bubsy smiled at her.

“You have a visitor, dear.”

Someone to see her? Lois frowned. As far as she knew, no one in her family had any idea she was living at the inn and no one in town knew her.

She glanced at the clock Bubsy had given her and noted she still had about twenty minutes before she had to start her shift. She was on lates tonight.

“Um, who’s here?” she asked her boss.

“A young man,” was all the older woman would say. Lois had the feeling she knew his name but wasn’t about to spill the beans.

Lois glanced back at her daughter and went out, closing the door just enough to leave it ajar so she could hear if Kally needed her. A tall man with dark hair stood on the back porch of the inn, but stepped down when Bubsy nodded at him.

Clark!

She stared at him, feeling more than a little nervous at seeing him here. It had been a week or so since she’d gone to see him at the farm. She hadn’t sent him any messages and hadn’t told him where she was living.

What was he doing here?

“What are you doing here?” she asked as soon as her friend was out of earshot.

“I needed to talk to you,” he said quietly. “Could we …” He gestured toward the cabin but she stood in front of the doorway, barring him from entering.

“No, we can’t.”

“Why not? What are you protecting?”

“Nothing.”

He looked sceptical. “Really? So that’s not a baby I can hear in there?”

She frowned at him. “What are you? Part bloodhound?”

“Lois!”

She sighed and shook her head. “How did you find me?”

“I did a little digging. It wasn’t that hard, really. This is a small town. When a girl turns up out of the blue with a baby in tow, people notice.”

“Well, yay for them. Why are you here, Smallville?”

“Maybe I want to get to know my daughter.”

Her heart skipped a beat. Did he just say …

“I know she’s mine, Lois. I did the maths.”

“How did you even know about her?”

“Chloe. She told me your dad’s had people looking up and down the country for you.”

“How did she … I mean, how did you …”

He sighed. “I told her I ran into you. I tried to make it sound like you’d already left town, but I don’t think she believed me.”

“Well, of course she didn’t believe you! She’s a reporter, Smallville! How long do you think it’ll be before she figures out you’re Kally’s dad?” She paused. “Or before she tells my dad I’m here?”

“I didn’t think …”

“Do you ever?” she accused.

He flinched. “That’s not fair, Lois. I had a right to know about Kally.”

Lois had to concede he had a point. She had been wracking her brains trying to think of a gentle way to tell him about her … their daughter.

Kally cried out in a fit of pique, obviously missing her mother’s attention. Sighing, Lois opened the door.

“All right. Mommy’s coming.” She turned and looked at Clark. “You can see her. But only for a few minutes. I have to start my shift in ten.”

Clark followed her inside and sat on the floor beside the infant. Kally stared at him, clearly wondering who this strange person was, but soon returned her attention to the rattle Lois shook in front of her.

“She’s really cute,” Clark said. “Does she … I mean, she’s, um, healthy?”

“Got all her fingers and toes in the right places. It was hard for a while, after I left my dad’s. We were sort of on the streets for a month. Then I came here and Bubsy found us.”

“Bubsy?”

“Miss Harrigan. She kind of adopted us.”

Clark nodded. “So, who takes care of Kally when you’re working?”

“Well, she sort of stays in a crib in Bubsy’s office. All the staff help take care of her, really.”

“Oh. Would it be okay if I … I mean, would you mind if I came to babysit sometime? Spend time with her?”

What could she really say to that? He had a right to spend some time with his daughter. She had to at least give him that. Even if she couldn’t really trust him.

“You can trust me,” he said.

“You won’t try to take her away from me?” Lois asked. “I mean …”

He sent her a confused look. “Why would I do that?”

“That’s what my dad wanted to do. He wanted me to have Kally adopted out, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t give her up.”

For some odd reason, Clark looked almost relieved at hearing that.

“I wouldn’t give her up either,” he said. He looked thoughtful. “Is that why you left your dad’s?”

“Yeah. That, and other stuff.”

“Okay.” He stood up. “I should let you get to work. Um, when is your day off?”

“Saturday,” she said.

“Could I come and spend some time with Kally? If you wanted to, we could take her out somewhere, or I could just babysit if you wanted to go somewhere on your own.”

She was reluctant to let him stay with Kally on his own. Not that she didn’t trust him not to take her daughter away somewhere, but because she thought he probably didn’t know how to handle a baby.

“Why don’t we just take this one step at a time, Smallville. You come here on Saturday. After, say, nine, and then we’ll decide what to do. Okay?”

“Okay. That sounds like a plan.”

She picked up her daughter and carried her out of the cabin, locking the door. Clark looked at her.

“It’s so guests don’t think they can just help themselves to my stuff,” she told him.

“Oh. You don’t have very much.”

She didn’t think he’d noticed. Most of what she’d managed to get from the charity shop had been for Kally. A crib, a few toys, some clothes. She had only a few things for herself. Her first tips hadn’t been all that much but the inn had a few regular guests and once they started to get to know her they gave her a little more, knowing she had Kally.

Clark followed her into the inn and watched as she handed her daughter over to Bubsy, who was at the front desk talking to the receptionist. Her friend cooed over the baby, promising she would be fine while Lois worked. The older woman had told her she loved taking care of Kally.

There were times when it really did feel like Bubsy was Kally’s grandmother the way she fussed over her.

“I should get to work,” Lois told Clark.

“I’ll be here on Saturday,” he murmured. “I promise.”

She decided she wasn’t going to hold him to that. While he seemed to be completely different from Kal in his manner, she wasn’t ready to believe in the ‘nice guy’ persona. If he wanted her trust, he would have to earn it.

Halfway through her shift, she had a chance to sit in the office and watch over her baby while eating the dinner Bubsy had cooked for her. The older woman came in and sat down.

“How are you, sweetie?”

“I’m okay.”

Her friend leaned over the makeshift crib, which was really just a small playpen Lois had managed to rescue from being thrown out by the charity shop and set up with a new mattress.

“Your friend coming back?”

“On Saturday.”

“He’s the daddy, huh?”

Lois bit her lip. “I didn’t know he lived here when I … I met him in the city.”

“I’ve known Clark since he was adopted by his parents. He’s a sweet boy.”

“He was different when I met him.”

Bubsy nodded. “There was a terrible accident at the farm spring before last. We don’t really know what happened, but Clark left. His parents almost lost everything trying to find him. I’m guessing that’s when you met.”

Lois remembered Bubsy had told her some of the details the night she’d picked Clark up on the roadside. She’d forgotten about meeting Martha Kent in the hospital.

  


Kally had grandparents. Even with the problems she had with her father, Lois wondered if she should at least let Clark’s parents know they had a grandchild. Then again, that was probably Clark’s responsibility.

“Don’t try to overthink things, sweetheart. You’ve barely started to get back on your feet. If Clark wants his parents to know, he’s the one who should tell them.”

She smiled at her friend. “How do you always know what I’m thinking?”

“It’s a gift,” the older woman returned. “I can’t tell you how they’ll react but I do know that they will come to love you and your sweet baby girl once they’ve had a chance to get to know you.”

“Unlike my dad,” she said bitterly.

_It had been a terrible fight that had forced her to leave home. Her father hadn’t been at all happy when she had eventually told him she was pregnant. He’d demanded to know everything. How it had happened and who the father was. She had wondered at the time if he’d planned to hunt the man down and either kill him or force him to take responsibility for his actions. Never mind the fact that it took two to tango._

_“Did you even use protection?” he’d raged. He’d already ranted to her about being too young to have sex until she’d pointed out that she was considered old enough by the law to decide for herself. In Kansas, at least. It was different in other states. Not that that mattered to him._

_“Yes, Daddy.” They’d used a condom. Even that, unfortunately, wasn’t completely infallible._

_He glared down at her baby bump._

_“I suppose it’s too late for …”_

_She stared at him, placing a hand protectively on her stomach. She was almost five months along._

_“Daddy, are you suggesting I …” She didn’t want to say the rest. The very thought of getting rid of the baby was something she had never considered. Not even for a second. Even if it had been a mistake for her to have slept with Kal, even if things had ended badly between them, she would never ever consider her baby a mistake._

_“Well, I suppose once it’s born you can have it adopted out,” he said._

_Her eyes widened as she stared at her father. Give it up?_

_She tried to pretend everything was fine and went on with her life as if everything was normal, but by her seventh month, there was no more pretending. The school where she was meant to be finishing her senior year decided she was setting a bad example and ‘suggested’ she drop out. It was less of a suggestion and more an order. She wouldn’t even have been allowed to repeat her senior year once the baby was born. The school would definitely not be welcoming her back._

_Stuck at home with nothing to do, she was forced to take the brunt of her father’s bad temper. Not that he was an abusive father, she thought. Just mostly neglectful. He started working later and later in his office on the base and came home tired and grouchy. If Lois even tried to broach the subject of the baby he would growl and mutter something before going off to his room._

_A social worker began coming by in her eighth month of pregnancy. Lois knew what the woman was doing. Her father was bound and determined that she was not going to keep the baby and had assigned the woman to persuade Lois to give her baby up for adoption._

_This continued even after Kally was born. Lois had taken one look at the screaming baby with her thick black hair and named her after Kal. Despite the way he’d behaved, part of her had liked him. Maybe she would never get the chance to know the real Kal, but at least with her daughter she had part of him._

_It was a good thing that the social worker was a decent sort who believed that Lois was old enough to make up her own mind about whether she wanted to give up her baby. The general, however, refused to take no for an answer. He would leave brochures for adoption agencies around and drop hints about families on base who were desperate for children, as if that would guilt Lois into giving up her daughter._

_The general wasn’t really a cruel man but he had his pride and the news that his teenaged daughter, who was supposedly so independent and so responsible, was pregnant, had embarrassed him._

_The final straw came when Kally was three months old. Lois had marked the day on her calendar as it was almost the one-year anniversary of the night she had met Kal. She’d thought of him often through the long months of her pregnancy, alternately hating him for the way it had happened and wishing he was by her side._

_Lois had never considered herself to be a sentimental kind of person but she had begun having dreams of meeting up with Kal. Of them walking off into the sunset together with their daughter. She knew it couldn’t really happen, but anything was better than home._

_The general came home early that final day. With guests. A sergeant and his wife. Within a few minutes of her meeting them, Lois’ father had handed over the baby. When Lois tried to take her back, he pulled her aside and shoved her into the next room._

_“I talked to them about adopting the baby,” he said._

_Lois stared at him incredulously. “You can’t do that,” she said._

_“You are too young to be a mother.”_

_“You are not taking my child away from me,” she screamed at him._

_“You are destroying your future!” he screamed back. “You’ve already dropped out of high school and now you won’t be going to college either. You have embarrassed me …”_

_Lois tuned out the rest of his rant and pushed past him, striding toward the couple who looked at each other nervously._

_“Whatever my father told you, he’s wrong. I’m not giving up my baby. I’m sorry. You seem like a really nice couple but he had no right to talk to you without my consent.” She took the baby from them._

_She packed whatever she could and left that night._

Bubsy had listened to her story one night long after the front desk had closed down for the evening, tears streaming down her face.

“Oh, Lois, I’m so sorry your father did that to you.”

“I know he was doing what he thought was best for both of us but I just don’t understand why he wouldn’t listen to what I wanted.”

“Some men can be so close-minded. I know my father, when he found out I was pregnant, was so angry and so hurt. In those days an unmarried mother was just not the done thing.”

She remembered that conversation as she talked to Bubsy about Clark and how he’d found out about their daughter. While she was glad he hadn’t told Chloe she was still in town, she knew it wouldn’t be long before her cousin found out anyway. It wouldn’t be hard. Not for someone who was used to digging things up, like Chloe was. It was only a matter of time.

The question was, would her cousin tell her father where she was?

“I’m scared my dad will find me and will try to take Kally away from me again.”

“I won’t let that happen,” her friend told her. “He can certainly try but he will have to go through me. And Clark. You should tell him what happened with your dad. I have a feeling he will understand.

Clark was late getting to the inn. Chloe had asked for his help with an article she was writing for the paper but between football practice – he’d decided to join the football team, against his father’s wishes, but still – and his chores on the farm, he had wondered if he should perhaps give up working for the Torch, at least until football was over for the year.

Knowing his friend needed him, he realised he couldn’t just abandon her and had spent an hour that morning doing some research for the article. He knew his future wasn’t on the farm – at least his dad agreed with that – and journalism was really the only thing he could see himself doing once he finished college.

Once he’d managed to get away, he stopped in at the Talon. His mom had taken a job managing the coffee shop, since Lex now owned it outright. As he paid for the coffees, he was startled to bump into Lana.

He’d seen her at school, of course, but they hadn’t really had a chance to talk since she’d got back from France. He’d assumed she was staying for a year, but didn’t ask her why she’d come home. After the way they’d left things before she’d gone away, he didn’t think there was any hope of salvaging their relationship.

Truth be told, the knowledge that he was a father to a little girl had changed his perspective somewhat.

He hadn’t decided whether he should tell his parents. They were not going to be happy. He knew that much. After the summer he’d run away, there had been some tension between them all for a while. They’d basically walked on eggshells around him, afraid he would leave again. He’d thought about it. Even considered going to look for Lois. Even if it was just to apologise for his behaviour.

Telling them they were grandparents was just going to open up another can of worms and he wasn’t sure he wanted to put them through that.

“Lana.”

“Oh, Clark. Didn’t see you there.” She looked at the small tray of takeout coffees. He’d ordered one for himself and one for Lois. When they’d gone out on the motorcycle that day, she’d confessed she only liked one particular blend of coffee. A lot like Chloe, he’d thought with a grin. “You working at the Torch?”

“Hmm?”

“The coffee. You usually drink black. I didn’t think you were into the other kind.”

Of course, he thought. She must have overheard his order.

“Oh, no I’m not working at the Torch today. Chloe’s got that all under control. I’m just going to visit a friend.”

“Oh. I see. So, how are you?” she asked.

“I’m fine. You?”

Geez, could this get any more awkward, he thought. He used to be able to talk to Lana about anything, even when they were on the outs as boyfriend and girlfriend but now …

“I’m good. Well, I should get going. I have to get to the market.”

“Yeah, I need to get going too. I’m late,” he said.

She frowned as if wanting to ask what he was late for, but didn’t ask. Clark left the shop and went out to the truck. The clock on the dash told him he was already twenty minutes late.

The inn was quiet when he pulled up five minutes later. He parked in a space and got out, taking the coffee with him. Miss Harrington stood at the front desk, looking at something on the computer. She looked up.

“Hello Clark. Come to see Lois?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“She’s just in the dining room. Go on through honey.”

Clark went into the dining room. Lois was sitting at a table, a high chair in front of her. A small bowl was on the tray and she was attempting to feed Kally with some green goop. Clark grimaced, then chuckled as the baby made a disgusted face.

“It’s good for you,” Lois told her daughter.

“I don’t know,” Clark said. “I wouldn’t eat it either.”

Lois turned and glared at him. “Are you criticising my parenting skills?” she accused.

He shrugged. “No. Just agreeing with Kally. I hate mushy green stuff too,” he responded, setting the coffees down. “I bought you a coffee. I wasn’t sure if you were allowed to drink coffee. I mean if you’re … you know …” He gestured toward her chest.

She smirked at him.

“Breastfeeding? It’s not a dirty word, Smallville. Yes, I’m still breastfeeding and yes, I am allowed coffee. In small doses.” She got up and handed him the spoon. “Here.”

He stared at her. “You want me to try?”

“If you want to be part of her life, you have to learn how to take care of her. So, you try feeding her while I drink my coffee.” She picked up the cup and sipped, looking surprised. “You remembered how I like my coffee,” she said.

He shrugged. “I remember a lot of things about you.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Like how you hate uncomfortable silences. How you tend to babble when you’re nervous.” He picked up the spoon and watched as the green goop dripped back into the bowl. “What is this, anyway?”

“Broccoli,” Lois said. “I hadn’t had a chance to get any more baby food so this was all I had.”

“For breakfast? No wonder she’s complaining!”

“She’s a baby, Smallville. She doesn’t even talk yet.”

He grinned as he tried to feed her the broccoli. Again she made a disgusted face and a sound that resembled ‘yuck’ in his uneducated opinion.

“Sounds like a complaint to me,” he said.

“She still has to eat it.”

He looked with sympathy at the baby. “You’ve got a mean mother, kid.”

“I’m not mean!” Lois replied. “You take that back!”

Clark laughed at her expression. She was pouting. At least she knew he was teasing. Lois sat down beside her daughter.

“Come on, sweetie, I know it’s not your favourite apple and custard but it’s all Mommy has right now. My check doesn’t come in until the end of the month and I’ve only got a little bit in tips.”

Clark looked at her. “If you need money, I can help.”

“Clark …”

“No,” he said. “She’s my daughter too. I’ve got enough to get her some baby food and anything else you need.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

He turned back to look at the baby. “Okay, kiddo, you heard your mom. I know it’s green and kind of gross but it’ll help you grow nice and strong.”

Kally looked dubiously at him, but accepted the spoonful. She still made a face but ate it, then accepted more until most of it was eaten. Lois stroked her daughter’s head.

“Good girl,” she crooned. “But now we have to go change your clothes since your daddy spilled broccoli all over them.”

Clark rolled his eyes. “I did not.” He pointed to the green stain on her onesie which was dry enough that it had obviously been there a while. “That was there before I got here.”

“Yeah, sure.” She got up. “Why don’t you bring her with you to the cabin?”

He carefully lifted her up, making sure she was fully supported. Kally sat contentedly in his arms, almost as if she knew who he was.

He’d thought of almost nothing else but his daughter since he’d found out about her. Even his parents had noticed his distraction.

He’d been worried that she had already started to develop abilities like his. He was sure Lois would have mentioned it so he figured she was perhaps too young. Then again, would she even develop powers since she was born under a yellow sun? He didn’t know the exact science but ever since the solar flares he’d suspected his own abilities had something to do with the sun. He didn’t know enough about Krypton to come to any firm conclusions.

He was tempted to talk to Jor-El. His birth father might not have all the answers but he had to have some at least.

He knew he would have to tell Lois about his secret sooner or later. She would need to be prepared in case Kally did develop such abilities. She would need to know how to protect her.

Knowing he didn’t have a baby seat in the truck and figuring it would be safer, they decided to leave Kally with Miss Harrigan while they went to Granville to get some groceries from the local Safeway. Clark wanted to avoid bumping into anyone he knew in Smallville and Granville wasn’t too far that it would be out of his way.

They were back an hour later with lots of baby food. Clark had also bought a teddy bear for his daughter, having seen it on the shelves in the toy aisle. He’d tried to buy Lois something too but she’d protested she didn’t really need anything. He could tell almost her entire life revolved around the baby.

Bubsy was already making them lunch when they got back to the inn. She’d told Clark as an aside that she’d offered to pay for baby food but Lois had stubbornly refused. The older woman commented that it was good that Lois had allowed him to help out. Clark agreed, thinking that it was the right thing for him to do.

It was still reasonably warm for almost October and they sat out on the back porch. Kally was in a baby swing, fascinated with the toys that hung above her. She cooed contentedly, making Lois smile.

“I like seeing you smile,” Clark said. He hadn’t wanted to comment but she had looked mostly pale and drawn. Yet when she was with Kally, she seemed happy.

Lois didn’t reply and just sat back sipping the tea Bubsy had made.

“Can I ask you something?” he said.

“You just did,” she responded automatically.

“Right. Why did you come to Smallville?”

“I don’t know. I guess because of Chloe. She always talked about this town. Mostly she said it was kind of weird, but the people were nice.”

“Have you talked to her?”

She shook her head. “I can’t. I don’t want my dad to know I’m here.”

“What really happened between you and your dad? I mean, you told me he wanted you to adopt Kally out, but … what are you so afraid of?”

She bit her lip, mulling the question over. “You don’t know my dad,” she said.

“Tell me. I want to know.” He listened as she told him about the fight that had forced her to pack her bags and leave her father’s house with Kally. He wanted to be angry with the general but he tried to see the man’s side as well. He couldn’t. He just couldn’t understand how the man could be so horrible toward his daughter and refuse to support her decision.

“I’m sorry your dad was so horrible to you.”

“It’s not his fault. I guess he just couldn’t handle it, you know?”

Clark wondered how the general would have reacted if he’d learned that Kally’s father wasn’t even born on Earth. The worst-case scenario would be that he would have had her locked up in a lab somewhere. Tested for any abilities. He shuddered. He would never allow that to happen.

There was still the issue of Chloe. He gently tried to persuade Lois to talk to her cousin. Chloe would find out Lois was here eventually. She might even learn the truth about Kally’s parentage. He was sure if Lois explained the situation then her cousin would understand.

Lois still refused. Clark knew there was only one way to deal with this and that was to let her come to the decision on her own.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The General finds out

She watched as the young parents talked in the parlour. Clark had been visiting every chance he had, spending time with his daughter, who was growing like a weed. Little Kally obviously thrived on the love and attention from both her parents.

Bubsy studied Lois, who was looking much happier than she had been three months ago. She had put on a little weight and was smiling a lot more. She was a hard worker and the guests certainly appreciated all the effort she put in. She was also a good mother, putting all her energy into being a good example for her daughter.

She heard Clark’s deep laughter as Lois moved quickly to rescue whatever the seven-month-old had put in her mouth. Kally was turning into a mischievous child. Into everything. She often told Lois that her daughter was just trying to understand her world, using all her senses to work out what everything was.

Bubsy noticed the book on the table beside the couch. Lois had been taking advantage of her day off to do a little bit of study before Clark’s visit. She was pleased that the eighteen-year-old had taken on board some of the things they’d talked about a few weeks earlier.

She had approached Lois about perhaps getting her GED and going to school.

“Am I not doing a good job?” Lois asked, clearly worried she was going to be kicked out.

“Oh, you are, dear. You’re a wonderful worker. But you are so smart. Have you given any thought to what you want to do with your life?”

“Not really. I mean, I did think about it before I had Kally, but …”

“Sweetheart, you can’t just live for your child. You have to have something for yourself too.”

Lois bit her lip. “When I was in tenth grade, I took this class in journalism. The teacher didn’t seem to think I was cut out for it but I liked it. My cousin’s the editor of her school paper.”

“Yes, dear, I know. I’ve seen the paper. And as far as that teacher is concerned, well, what do they know? I’ve always felt if there is something you enjoy doing you will eventually learn how to be good at it.”

“Did you like nursing?”

“Sometimes. I mostly only took it on to make my mother and father happy. I love running the inn.”

“Do you really think I could do it?” the teen asked.

“I think you can do anything you set your mind to.”

“I’d have to get my GED,” Lois replied, biting her lip.

“That is true, but I can help you with that. I can look after Kally if you need to study.”

Lois looked at her for a long moment then threw her arms around her in a warm hug.

“You are so good to me, Bubsy. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you.”

She waved the girl away, flustered. “Oh, get away with you.”

The chatter returned her to the present and she saw Clark had picked up his daughter and they’d left the parlour. Lois smiled at her.

“Clark’s offered to take us to Granville for an early dinner.”

She nodded. “Well, make sure you wrap up warmly, sweetheart. It’s quite chilly out.”

“We will,” Lois replied.

Clark held his daughter’s hand and shook it gently up and down. He was trying to teach her to wave. Bubsy chuckled as the little family went out to the cabin to get warm coats. She didn’t know just how close they were but she could tell Clark was doing his best to be a good father. He’d bought Lois a car seat so they could take Kally out for rides in the truck and pitched in for groceries. She guessed he didn’t have a lot of money either but he was giving as much as he could.

He was a sweet boy, she thought.

She went to her office to finish the paperwork she hadn’t been able to get done during the week. It was getting close to winter and the inn was heading into its quieter period. Around Christmas it would experience a brief surge in the number of guests, due to family gatherings, but after that it would drop off for a month or so.

She was deep into the work when she was startled by the bell ringing at the front desk. She hadn’t been expecting any guests to come in and had let the receptionist have the day off. She came out, her step faltering as she saw the young woman and the man standing in front of her. She recognised both of them from photographs she’d seen in Lois’ cabin.

“Can I help you?” she asked quietly.

“Miss Harrigan?” The young woman with short blonde hair spoke quietly but calmly.

“Yes, that’s me.” She frowned. “Are you Chloe?”

Chloe nodded, clearly unsurprised that she was recognised. “Yes ma’am. Um, this is my Uncle. Sam Lane.”

“We came to see Lois,” the man replied. She looked him over. He seemed sad and even a little anxious. “We know she’s here.”

“I’m afraid she’s out right now,” Bubsy replied. “It’s her day off.”

“She works here?” the general asked.

The inn owner bit her lip. “Perhaps we should sit down and talk, sir,” she said quietly. “Why don’t I make us all a cup of coffee.”

“Thank you,” he replied.

“That’ll be great,” Chloe added.

She sent them into the parlour, telling them to make themselves comfortable while she made them all hot drinks. She returned in a few minutes to see that Sam had picked up the book Lois had been studying.

“English Literature?” he asked.

“It’s Lois’,” she told him. “I’ve been encouraging her to study for her GED.”

He seemed surprised by that. “Oh. That’s … that’s good. Uh, how is she?”

“She’s doing very well, actually. She’s happy.”

“What about her daughter? Kally.”

“Kally is such a sweet little thing. And she’s thriving.”

“I can’t thank you enough for taking them in.”

“It was no problem, Mr Lane. Lois is a delightful young woman and we all love her dearly. How long have you known she was here, if I may ask?”

“You may. Not long.” He glanced at Chloe, who sighed.

“I’ve known a couple of months, I guess. I just … I wasn’t sure if she’d even want to see me. I figured if she wanted to contact me, she would. But then Uncle Sam asked me to see if I could find her and I couldn’t lie to him.”

“I’ve been very worried about her.”

“I imagine you have, Mr Lane,” Bubsy replied, “but I need you to know that while I didn’t necessarily agree with Lois not contacting you, I understand why.”

He nodded. “I guess you know why she left. I can’t justify my actions. All I can tell you now is that I know I was wrong and I want her to come home. Where she belongs.”

“Begging your pardon, General, but Lois is eighteen now and old enough to make her own decisions. You cannot force her to do something she doesn’t want to do.”

“If I could just see her, talk to her …”

“I’m afraid that isn’t up to you.”

She picked up the sound of voices and the front door opened. Lois stood in the doorway, staring open-mouthed at the visitors. Clark stood behind her with Kally in his arms. The little girl was wrapped up in a puffer jacket with a fluffy-lined hood.

Lois sighed, all sign of humour gone from her face.

“Well, this day just got better and better,” she told Clark.

Chloe stared at the couple. “Clark? What are you …”

The hood slid off the little girl’s head, showing her dark hair. Kally had a very strong resemblance to her father, even at this age.

“Oh my god!” Chloe said.

The general got to his feet. “Lois,” he said, his voice pained.

Lois turned on her heel and walked out again, Clark following.

Lois sat on her bed, watching as Clark changed the baby’s diaper and dressed her into her pyjamas before laying her down in the crib. He looked up at her.

“Are you okay?”

She sighed heavily. “No. I knew this would happen eventually. I just …”

“I did try to tell you to talk to Chloe.”

She had no idea how long Chloe had known where she was but it was obvious she didn’t know about Clark’s visits. It was clear from the way she had reacted that she had figured out Clark was Kally’s father.

“I don’t know what to do,” she said. “He’s still in there. I can’t face him.”

“I’ll support you. Whatever you decide. Even if that means leaving Smallville.”

She stared up at him. “You’d do that for me?”

He nodded. “I want to do what’s best for Kally. And for you. I mean, we’re friends.”

She studied him. “Is that all we are, Clark?”

They’d spent so much time together in the past few weeks that she wondered if maybe she was feeling something that wasn’t really there. They’d managed to get past all the bad things that had happened between them, especially in Metropolis and had really got to know each other. She found that the glimpses she’d seen of the sweet young man in the city was really him and that ‘Kal’ had been an aberration of sorts.

The more time she spent with him, the more she liked him.

Clark sat beside her. He placed a gentle hand on her leg. “I think that’s all we can really manage right now,” he said. “Don’t misunderstand. I like you, Lois. I really do. But I think we both have a lot of growing up to do before we can go down that road. If we do.”

He was right. Having a daughter didn’t change that. They still had four years of college. That wasn’t to say they couldn’t explore it in the future. The timing was just wrong.

There was a gentle knock on the door and Clark got up to answer it. Bubsy entered.

“Lois, sweetie, I know you’re upset but your father just turned up a half hour ago. I promise I didn’t contact him.”

She nodded. She knew her friend wouldn’t do anything like that.

“He’d really like to talk to you,” the older woman said.

“Clark just put the baby down.”

“Then would it be all right if I sent him out here?”

She looked at Clark, who nodded. Bubsy left the room.

“Whatever you decide, I’ll support you,” he said.

Lois sighed. It had been the ‘perfect’ end to the day. When they’d left the Granville store they’d just been strolling down the street when they bumped into Clark’s parents. The older couple had stared at them, then at the baby in her stroller.

“This is where you’ve been disappearing to every weekend?” his father accused.

“Dad, I can explain.”

Martha frowned at Lois. “I know you from somewhere,” she said.

Lois nodded. “I’m the one who found Clark last summer. We met in the hospital.”

“Oh, yes. I remember.”

“Mom, Dad, this is Lois. Lois, these are my parents. Martha and Jonathan.”

Martha crouched down to look at the baby. “And who is this?”

“Kally,” Lois told her. “My daughter.” She glanced at Clark, who nodded. “Actually, she’s ‘our’ daughter.”

The blond man looked taken aback. “What?”

“It was while I was in Metropolis,” Clark said. “The time I ran away. We didn’t plan this. It just happened.”

Jonathan looked furious. “These things don’t ‘just happen’, Clark.”

Martha appeared worried. “Is she …”

“She’s seven months old now.”

“And she’s perfect,” Clark told them. “Look, Mom, Dad, I know you’re upset but this really isn’t the time and place. We need to get Kally home. It’s almost her bedtime.”

“Home?” Martha asked.

“The Smallville Inn,” Lois said. “I work there as a maid. The owner took us in last summer and she’s been amazing, looking after Kally while I work.”

“All right, but we are going to talk about this, Clark.”

They had agreed to meet at the farm the next day before Lois had to start work and talk things over. Of course, Lois thought, that might change now that the General was here.

Clark squeezed her hand as Chloe came in, followed by Lois’ father. He looked around the small cabin. It was barely two rooms, but it was comfortable. Clark had found some stuff in the attic at the farm which he’d thought could provide a little bit of a personal touch and Lois had been able to save up enough to buy some paint and a few little pieces of furniture.

The older man quietly approached the crib where Kally had fallen asleep.

“She looks good,” he said. “Healthy.”

“You’re not taking her,” Lois told him.

He looked stricken as he gazed up at her. “Lois, sweetheart, I …”

“Don’t,” she said.

“Please hear me out. When you told me you were pregnant, I admit I didn’t handle it well. I thought I was doing what was best for both you and Kally when I went looking for a family to adopt her. I admit I was thinking more about how it would look to the brass that I couldn’t control my own daughter. I never should have said what I did. It was my pride talking.” He paused. Lois could see genuine remorse on his face as he looked at her.

“I was wrong, sweetheart. I was so wrong. You ran away and I realised just how wrong I was. I was scared I’d pick up a newspaper and find out something bad had happened to you. I was relieved when Chloe told me where you were and that you were both safe.”

He again paused to take a breath. “Lois, I made so many mistakes last year. With you. With Kally.”

She held up a hand before he could continue. “Dad, I know. I know you’re sorry about what happened. But I won’t go back with you. I have a place here. A good job. I’m happy. For the first time in a long time I’m really happy. And I’m studying for my diploma. I might even go to college.”

He smiled. “That’s wonderful, sweetheart. I’m proud of you.”

Chloe had been silent all this time, but she kept staring at Clark almost accusingly.

“Why didn’t you tell me about you and Lois,” she said.

“I asked him not to,” Lois told her cousin gently. “I’m sorry. He kept telling me to talk to you but I couldn’t. I was … afraid.”

Her cousin stared at her incredulously.

“Did you really think I would just go and blab to Uncle Sam?”

“You’re here now,” Clark pointed out quietly.

“Because Uncle Sam came to me and asked me for my help,” she said. She turned back to Lois. “I’m sorry. I guess you had your reasons but it kind of hurts that you didn’t think you could trust me.”

“There’s a lot more to it than that, Chlo,” Lois told her. “There’s Kally.”

“Who happens to be Clark’s daughter. I knew it as soon as I saw you two together. I guess it happened when you were in Metropolis,” she said.

“Never mind that now,” the General said. “I’m sure Clark will tell us the whole story. Do your mother and father know?”

“They do now,” Clark said. “We ran into them in Granville. We were going to talk to them, tell them everything at the farm tomorrow.”

The older man nodded. His tone was gentle as he spoke again. “I think we should all sit down and talk. What time will you need to be at the farm tomorrow, Lois?”

“Uh, Daddy …”

“I’ll pick you up. You and Kally. What time?”

“Uh, I guess around ten?” she said, glancing at Clark for confirmation. She felt as if he’d ambushed her. Either that or she’d fallen down a rabbit hole. She wasn’t used to her father being so sweet. “I start work at one o’clock.”

Her father nodded. “Ten hundred hours.” He kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow, sweetheart.” He smiled. “It’ll be all right.”

Lois watched her father and her cousin walk out the door, then sat back down on the bed with a huff.

“Wow!” she said. “I never thought I’d ever hear my father say he’s sorry about anything.”

Clark sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her. They sat in silence for a few minutes. She found herself leaning against him, grateful for his support. She knew whatever happened between them in the future, he was always going to be there for her.

Clark wasn’t sure what kind of reception he would get when he returned home. He didn’t have long to wait. 

“Mom, Dad, I know you’re upset …”

“This goes a little beyond upset, Clark. When were you going to tell us about this?”

Clark turned to look at his mother, hoping for some kind of support, but she had a look of disappointment on her face. He always hated it when she looked at him that way. He could deal with his father’s raised voice and his scolding, but not that.

“Mom …”

“Clark, you slept with a girl you barely knew and got her pregnant. How did you think we were going to feel about this?”

“Mom, I know. I met Lois when she came to Metropolis and we spent a couple of days together. I was on red K at the time …”

“That doesn’t excuse it, Clark. First, there’s the not-so-little matter of your powers. Did you even think about that?”

“Of course I thought about it, Dad. I’ve thought of nothing else since. I mean, when I was under the red K, I didn’t think about what it would do to her.”

“You were only thinking of yourself,” his father said. “Does that about cover it?”

Clark bit his lip and nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, all I can say is you were very lucky that nothing unusual happened. Or did it?”

Lois hadn’t mentioned anything unusual about her pregnancy, so he took that to mean her doctor hadn’t noticed anything. He’d had nightmares about all the ways things could have gone wrong, from Lois dying to doctors somehow figuring out that the baby was half-Kryptonian and taking it away to be studied. He was very relieved to know that hadn’t happened.

“How long did you think you were going to hide this from us?”

“We were going to tell you eventually, Dad,” he said. “I just didn’t know how.”

“You know she ran away from her father?”

“Yeah, Mom, I know, but he was trying to make her give Kally up. She didn’t think she had any other choice. She knows it was wrong but she didn’t know what else to do.”

The couple mulled this information over. His father gestured for him to sit down at the table, while his mother made them all hot cocoa. She came over and sat down once the drinks were ready.

“How long have you two been seeing each other?” she asked.

“It’s not like that. Not really. I mean, yeah, we have a baby together, but we’re just friends. What will happen in the future I don’t know. I like her but I don’t know if I’m ready to have that kind of relationship with her. She understands. Besides, people have kids together all the time and don’t end up getting married.”

“We raised you better than that, son.”

“I know and I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner.” He sighed. “Lois came to Smallville about a month before I came back. She found me on the road … well, that part you know. She’s been working at the Smallville Inn since the beginning of August. Bubsy looks after Kally while Lois is working.”

“Bubsy?” his mother asked.

“Miss Harrigan. She told us to call her Bubsy.” He paused to let that sink in a little. “Anyway, I found out about Kally right before school started and I went to see Lois. I asked if I could spend some time with her and we’ve been doing that every Saturday for the past two months. If she needs anything like groceries, for baby food or whatever, I’ve been helping her out there too.”

His dad frowned. “Clark, you were supposed to be saving money for college.”

“I am, but Kally’s my daughter too and I’m responsible for her. Lois doesn’t get paid much in her job and I don’t mind doing it.”

He could tell his parents were impressed with that. His father sighed.

“I can’t pretend I’m happy about this, but I’m proud of you for stepping up and taking the responsibility. You’re still planning on going to college?”

“Yes sir. I got accepted to Central Kansas. I know Met U is offering the football scholarship but I’m turning it down. Central Kansas is closer and it means I can still work on the farm and commute.”

His mother cleared her throat. “There is still something we haven’t talked about. What if Kally starts getting some of your abilities?”

“I don’t know, Mom. I haven’t told Lois anything about that but I know I’ll have to. She needs to know what she’s dealing with if Kally does get any abilities.”

“She doesn’t know?”

He shook his head at his mother’s incredulous enquiry. “I know I need to tell her. I’m just not sure how.” He looked at them. “Um, so General Lane is coming to the house tomorrow. He thinks we should have some kind of family meeting.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he wants Lois to go and live with him, but I know she doesn’t want to. She’s happy where she is, Dad. She’s got a good job. I mean, it doesn’t pay much, but she doesn’t need to pay any rent and Bubsy cooks her meals. She gets assistance for Kally from the government. And she’s studying for her GED so she can go to college too.”

“Well, I’ll say this for her. She sounds like she’s got her head screwed on right.”

Clark nodded. Lois had changed in the little time he’d known her. She had been anxious, almost jumpy when he’d first started spending time with her and their daughter but she’d slowly learned to trust him. The more she relaxed, the happier she was. He’d also noticed she’d put on weight. She had been far too thin before, her face almost gaunt. Now that she had filled out a little, she looked healthy.

He couldn’t sleep that night and decided to go out and do some chores in the barn. He was worried about what the general might say. From what Lois had told him, she and her father were a lot alike in temperament and they could both easily lose their tempers. Which could mean Lois would run away again. As much as he’d said he would support her, whatever she decided, he didn’t want to lose his daughter.

He was busy fixing up a few loose boards when the door opened.

“Clark? What are you doing?”

He looked at his father. “Sorry Dad. I couldn’t sleep.”

“It’s one in the morning.”

“I know.”

“Are you worried?” His father came in, combing his fingers through his hair.

“Sort of. Lois ran away from her dad for a reason and if he’s not willing to see why, I think she might just leave again.”

“But you said he apologised and told her he was wrong to try to force her to have Kally adopted. Isn’t that what you said?”

“Yeah, Dad. I just can’t help wondering. I don’t really know where this thing with Lois is going. I mean, I think we’re too young to have that kind of relationship.”

“You’re also far too young to be parents.”

He nodded. “One little mistake can change everything. But I’m not sorry. For Kally, I mean. When I look at her, it’s like I know what life is really all about, you know? Jor-El keeps telling me my destiny is to save the world, but it’s not about the rest of the world. It’s about Kally and Lois and others like them.”

His father smiled. “That’s exactly what we thought the day we found you out in that cornfield, Clark.”

He felt a little better after that. “Is Mom still upset?”

“Yeah. I hate to say it, son, but I think she is. But I think it’s more about the fact that you chose not to tell us for two months. I know you were trying to respect Lois’ decision and I get that. Now that you’re a father, I think you know all about actions and consequences. I meant what I said earlier. I’m proud of you for taking some responsibility. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, dealing with the fact that you have a child of your own, but we’ll get through it. As long as you don’t shut us out.”

“I promise. Thanks Dad.”

The older man nodded. “I’m going back to bed. Do you think you can sleep?”

“I think so. Goodnight Dad.”

“Goodnight son.”

Next morning, Clark helped his father with the Sunday chores before going back to the house to help his mother with preparing for the morning visitors. Chloe had sent him an email saying she was not allowed at the family meeting but they would be talking at school. He gathered she wasn’t happy with him for keeping the secret for so long but then it hadn’t been just his secret to tell.

“Does Lois drink coffee?” his mother asked.

“Yeah, Mom. She’s allowed coffee.”

“What do I give Kally?”

“Lois will probably bring some snacks for her. We always take some with us when we go out.”

“What about the General? Do you think he’ll want something to eat? I baked some muffins. I guess I could make a cake.”

“Mom, the muffins will be fine,” he said. She looked flustered. “Mom, sit down for a minute.”

“I have to …”

“No, you don’t,” he said quietly but firmly. “I know you’re nervous and I guess you’re still upset with us, but we can work things out.”

She looked up at him. “You’re so grown up, Clark.”

He smiled at her. “Mom, I know this whole thing has come as a bit of a shock. Believe me, when I first found out it took me a while to come to terms with it too.”

He heard the car pulling up and went out to greet his friend. Her smile was a little shaky but he guessed she was just a little nervous about facing his parents. Kally was in the car seat in the back. He helped Lois out of the passenger seat then opened the back door to unsnap the harness, then held his arms out for his daughter.

“Come to Daddy, Kally,” he said.

She babbled in his ear as he picked her up and carried her inside. Lois grabbed the bag she always carried all of the baby stuff in and followed him inside.

His mother watched from the kitchen as they came in. The General smiled at her.

“I appreciate your hospitality, Mrs Kent.”

“Please call me Martha,” she said. “You too, Lois.”

Clark looked down at her daughter, who was staring at her grandmother, clearly wondering who she was. Lois took her hand.

“That’s your grandma, sweetie. Say hi to Grandma.” She turned and looked at Clark’s mother. “Unless you prefer to be called Nana or Mom-mom or something.”

“Grandma’s fine.” She stepped toward them hesitantly. “Can I …”

Clark handed the baby over. As soon as the infant was in his mother’s arms, her demeanour changed.

“Hi. Oh, aren’t you the most beautiful little girl I’ve ever seen. Yes, you are. You’re just so precious.”

Clark exchanged a look with Lois and they both laughed.

“Mom made coffee,” he said.

His mother looked up from cooing at the baby. “There’s cream and sugar.”

“I take mine black,” the General replied with a grin. “I’m sweet enough.”

Lois snorted. “That’ll be the day,” she said. Her father looked around at her, but just laughed.

Clark’s dad came in and immediately joined his wife in admiring his grand-daughter.

They sat in the living room with their coffee. Clark noticed his parents sat together on the couch with the baby on his mother’s lap, his father playing peek-a-boo with her. Despite how upset they’d been over the news, they were clearly taken with their grand-daughter.

“She looks so much like you, Clark,” his mother said.

“Yeah, she does look like Clark,” Lois replied.

The General cleared his throat. “We should really get down to brass tacks. Now, Lois, I know you don’t want to come live with me on the base, but I saw the room you have at the inn. Don’t you think it would be better for both of you to have a house?”

Lois shook her head. “Dad, I appreciate the thought, but it’s not that bad. Maybe the cabin needs a little work but Clark’s been doing some repairs and he’s helped me paint it inside. It’s not huge, but it’s cosy. I mean, I only get paid in tips but I don’t pay any rent or utilities and my meals come with the job. Anything else I need for Kally I get through assistance.”

“What about saving for college?” he asked.

“I’m putting aside a little bit each month for that. I mean, it won’t be next Fall, but if I can save enough I might be able to start school the year after that. I still have to earn my high school diploma so I can get into college.”

The older man looked at Clark’s parents.

“What are your feelings about all this?” he said. “What about Clark’s future?”

“I think Clark has made that decision for himself,” Clark’s father replied. “Honestly, we would prefer him to go to somewhere like Met U, but for practical reasons, he’s accepted to Central Kansas. It’s still a good school and it has a good journalism program.” Clark smiled at his father. He’d left the brochure for his parents to read the night before, leaving the markers for the journalism program. He wasn’t completely sure he wanted to major in journalism but it was still a good option.

“Plus it means I can be close by if Lois or Kally need anything,” Clark told the other man. “I work on the farm and next year I start earning a small share of the profits.” His parents had already agreed that when he turned eighteen he would start earning a proper income from whatever the farm made, instead of getting a monthly allowance.

“You’ve thought this through then?” Sam asked.

“We have, Dad. Clark and I have talked about this a lot. If I moved to the base with you, Clark wouldn’t be able to spend as much time with Kally and me as he wanted. This way, he can be there if I need him.”

General Lane sighed. “I’m not going to stop worrying, but I can see you’ve made your mind up.”

“I have Dad.”

“Well, I would like to see my grand-daughter on a regular basis,” he told Lois. “I missed a lot with you girls growing up. I don’t want to make the same mistake with Kally.”

Lois appeared pleased with his acceptance of her decision.

“But no more secrets, you two,” he added. Clark exchanged a look with his parents. There was no way he could ever tell the General about his abilities. The older man was still in the military and Clark didn’t want to take any chances.

“That goes double for us,” Clark’s mother said. “We would like a chance to get to know you, Lois. And our grand-daughter. If that’s all right with you.”

Lois smiled. “That’s perfectly all right with me,” she said.

Clark watched as Lois knelt on the floor next to his parents and played with their daughter. It hadn’t been as bad as he had thought it was going to be. If only telling Lois his secret would be that easy. He had no idea how she was going to take it that the little girl she had carried inside her for nine months was half-alien.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois and Clark ponder their daughter's future

Lois opened the door to the coffee shop, struggling with the baby stroller and keeping the door open at the same time.

“Oh, let me help you with that.” A girl with glossy black hair held the door open for her so Lois could push the stroller forward.

“Thanks,” she said.

“No problem,” the girl said with a smile. “Is that your daughter? She’s so cute!”

Lois returned the smile. She loved it when people admired her daughter. Kally was now almost ten months old with chubby cheeks and her thick, dark hair had grown a little so it was covering her ears. She was quite the little show-stopper, loving the attention from the people in town.

“Lois! Over here!”

She looked over to where her cousin was calling her. Now that everything appeared to have been resolved with her father, she had felt she could spend some time with her cousin. She felt bad that she’d not trusted Chloe enough to keep her location a secret. It didn’t matter that the other girl had eventually told her father anyway. Clark had had a long talk with Chloe about it and she’d admitted she’d felt caught in the middle. She loved her cousin dearly but because Lois had refused to contact her, she had had to make a decision when Lois’ father had asked for her help.

Thankfully, it had all turned out all right in the end. Lois realised that her running away had been the one thing to make her father wake up and realise that not only had he been going about things the wrong way, but that he could have lost her for good.

Lois made her way over to the table and sat down opposite her cousin.

“What are you drinking?” she asked, looking at the mug in front of Chloe. It smelled divine.

“It’s a gingerbread latte. Mrs Kent’s been selling it for the Christmas season and it was so popular she extended it.”

Christmas had been amazing. Kally had been thoroughly spoilt by not only her father but also by her grandparents. All four of them, since Lois now considered Bubsy to be Kally’s honorary grandmother.

“So, tell me about this place,” she said, looking around at the faux Egyptian décor. It looked a little tacky to her, but what did she know about interior decorating? She’d painted the interior walls of her little cabin and put up a couple of pictures but that was as far as the decorating had gone. “Bubsy’s told me a bit, but …”

“Well, there isn’t much to tell beyond what you already know, I guess. Lex bought the building from Lana’s aunt.”

“Lana?” she asked. She knew about her but had never actually met her.

Chloe bit her lip. “You just met her. At the door.”

Lois looked around as Chloe nodded in the direction of the young brunette, who was now chatting with Martha. She turned back to her cousin, wondering why the blonde looked a little nervous.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s kind of a sticky subject. Lana and Clark used to date.” Lois already knew that, but didn’t comment on it. She knew he’d had girlfriends. It wasn’t like she expected him to be a saint just because they had a child together. They had mutually decided to stick with friendship for now. Anything else was really too soon.

Chloe went on. “They kind of went backwards and forwards for a while, but then Lana went to Paris and came back with a new boyfriend.” She paused, frowning. “Come to think of it, Clark hasn’t really talked much about Lana the past few months.”

Lois didn’t have a chance to ask Chloe what that was all about as Martha came over.

“Lois! Hello, sweetheart. I see you brought Kally with you.”

Lois smiled at the redhead, who clearly was itching to hold her grand-daughter. She accepted a kiss on the cheek and watched as the older woman undid the straps on the stroller and picked Kally up.

“Hello little girl. Oh, look at you. You look like you’ve grown another inch since I last saw you.”

Still babbling away to her grand-daughter, Martha took the little girl with her to the counter.

Chloe laughed. “Looks like things are going pretty well with the Kents.”

“They adore Kally,” Lois told her cousin. “And I don’t mind. It’s kind of nice. I mean, they offer to babysit when I have to work extra hours so Bubsy can free up her time to deal with any problems at the Inn.”

“Problems?”

The roof had started to leak when a heavy snow had fallen. One of the roof tiles, which had cracked last winter, according to the inn’s owner, had broken in the latest snowfall, which had caused the leak. Jonathan and Clark had come over to repair the leak and replace the tiles. Clark had also finished the repairs on the cabin so it had been warm and cosy.

While the elder Kents were still coming to terms with the fact that their son was a father, they were taking any opportunity they had to spend with their grand-daughter. Clark still came over on Saturdays to take them on outings, since it was Lois’ day off, and his parents took care to ensure they weren’t encroaching on that.

They had been so kind to her that Lois felt almost as if she had found another set of parents.

“So, where is Clark?”

“He said he had some things to do this morning, but we’re taking Kally out this afternoon. Clark thought we might take her to the city. She needs some new clothes. She’s outgrown most of her old ones.”

“Yeah, she’s growing like a weed. Must be her father’s genes,” Chloe said with an odd expression. Lois wondered what that meant.

Clark had been a little down lately. A friend of his – actually they’d dated briefly the year before - had been murdered. While she sensed he wasn’t telling her the whole story, he had told her that Alicia had come to him a few days after Christmas, thinking she could take up where they’d left off. The girl had been sent to Belle Reve, a hospital which treated those with psychological disorders – at least that was the polite term for it – when she’d become obsessed with Clark. Obsessed enough to try to kill Lana.

She’d tried to persuade him to run away with her and he’d refused. For some reason the girl had been afraid and Clark had done some digging to try to figure out what was going on. He’d learned that the psychiatrist who had been treating her had become obsessed with her to the point where he had tried to kill Clark. Instead he’d almost killed Alicia.

Feeling guilty because of the way she’d saved him, Clark had tried to make it up to her by building some kind of friendship with her. Unfortunately, not everyone in town thought Alicia had changed and when someone had attacked Lana, fingers were quick to point squarely at the blonde. Until she had been killed. It had been made to look like a suicide, but Clark had figured out who was really responsible and gone after him.

He hadn’t talked about Alicia since, but Lois knew it was hurting him.

Clark took a deep breath and stepped into the chamber, slipping the metal disc in the slot. The key which had once been part of the ship he’d destroyed had been missing, but after the death of Virgil Swann, a scientist Clark had met two years earlier, it had been returned to him.

He’d been reluctant to use it, knowing the mission Jor-El had given him could take him away from his new family.

As soon as the disc was entered he was hit by a wave of energy so powerful it almost knocked him off his feet.

“Kal-El.” His birth father’s deep voice was emotionless but the tone was full of enquiry.

“Jor-El. I’ve been putting this off for way too long but I … I needed to talk to you.”

“You have not been searching for the stones like I …”

“I know,” he said, interrupting his Kryptonian father’s admonishment before it could gather steam. “I’ve had other things going on. I actually came for your advice.”

“My advice?”

“I have a daughter,” he said. “I don’t know what to do. I’m worried if I tell the mother everything she’ll freak out. But things have happened lately. Bad things. Not to her, or to Kally, but to someone else. She was killed because she was different. I’m afraid for my daughter.”

“The mother is a human?”

“Yes. I need to know. Will Kally have powers? Like I do?”

“At what age is your child?”

“She’ll be a year old in a couple of months. I’ve been doing some research online and she’s hitting a lot of her milestones early.” Kally had already had her first step but wasn’t quite walking yet.

“I am afraid I cannot give you what you need without seeing the child for myself, Kal-El. There has never been a Kryptonian-human hybrid in our history. If your child was born under a yellow sun, she may not have the same abilities.”

“Why? How is it different?”

“Krypton had a red sun. It is the energy from the star Sol that gives you your abilities. Thousands of years ago Krypton was facing an environmental disaster which forced an evolution of sorts. We were able to adapt to store energy in a different way to those on Earth. Physiologically, humans and Kryptonians are not dissimilar, except in this way.”

“What do I do?”

“You must find the stones to create the Fortress of Knowledge, my son. Then you can bring the child to me so I can chart her progress and determine what, if any, abilities she will have.”

“Lois is very protective of Kally.”

“Then you must tell her the truth. She may not understand at first, but if you believe there is a danger to your daughter should some humans discover the truth about her, then she will need to know how to protect her.”

He was right, Clark thought as he left the chamber. He owed it to Lois to know what she could be up against.

As he started for the cave entrance, he was startled to see Lex coming in.

“Clark,” his friend said. “What are you doing down here?”

He knew the bald man wouldn’t believe him if he said he was working on a term paper, so he opted for the next best thing.

“I come down here sometimes when I need to think,” he said.

“I see. I haven’t seen a lot of you lately. When I’ve called the farm your parents tell me you’re out. Is everything all right?”

“It’s fine,” he said. “I’ve just been really busy. You know, with football and study.”

“I heard you were offered a scholarship to Met U,” Lex said, walking out with him. Clark had cause to wonder what the man was doing in the cave in the first place, but he knew his friend wouldn’t tell him.

He’d been thinking a lot lately about his friendship with the other man. Especially all the times when Lex had blatantly lied to him over investigating him. As much as he wanted to believe that the bald billionaire was only interested in finding out why he’d managed to survive so many near-death experiences, Clark knew there was more to it than that. Lex had figured out there was something unusual about Clark and it was like waving a red flag to a bull.

Now that he had Lois and Kally in his life, there was no chance in hell he was going to share his secrets with the man. He certainly wasn’t going to tell him Kally was his daughter. God only knew what Lex would do to his little girl.

He’d talked to Lois about Lex when they’d been discussing whether to let anyone else in on the new family dynamic. While he was happy for his parents to spend time with their grand-daughter, he didn’t think it was anyone else’s business and had asked them to keep that information to themselves.

Lois had wondered if perhaps he was being a little paranoid, until he’d reminded her that Lex’s own father had been convicted of murder. Even if said conviction had been overturned. While that was no indication of Lex’s own character, his moral values were rather dubious. Even Lois agreed with that.

Lex was looking curiously at him and he realised he hadn’t answered the other man’s question about college.

“I decided to go to Central Kansas so I’d be a little closer to home,” he said.

“I see.”

“Well, it means I can save on accommodation costs. The campus is about a half hour from home.”

“Yes, that does sound like a practical solution.” Lex stopped walking for a moment. “Why don’t you come to the mansion for the afternoon? Play some pool. I have some new movies that might interest you.”

“Thanks, Lex, but I promised a friend I’d take her to the city.”

“This friend wouldn’t be the young woman I’ve been seeing you with in the Talon, is it? The one with the baby?” He looked shrewdly at Clark. “The little girl looks a lot like you.”

Damn Lex and his sharp eyes, Clark thought. He tried to laugh it off.

“Yeah, everyone says that.”

“She’s rather young to be raising a child on her own. Where is the father?”

Clark shook his head. “I don’t know, Lex. She doesn’t talk about him.”

“I see. How did you two meet, anyway?”

“Uh, she was out running errands and had car trouble,” he said, trying to make it sound convincing. “I helped her out, we got to talking and became friends.” Lex smiled.

“Well, you’re a good friend, Clark, but then I always knew that. Perhaps another time then.”

“Yeah, thanks Lex. See you.”

Clark quickly made his escape from the bald billionaire and drove into town to pick up Lois and Kally. His friend was sitting with Chloe.

“Hi Lois, hi Chloe.” He smiled at the brunette. She’d given up dyeing her hair and let her natural colour grow out. It suited her, he thought. “Ready to go?”

“Let me just rescue Kally from her admirers,” Lois said with a smile. Clark turned and laughed. His mom was standing at the counter with Kally in her arms. They were surrounded by people who were doing their best to get the little girl to giggle. Which wasn’t hard. Everyone seemed to have fallen in love with his daughter.

They extricated her amid protests from her fan club and left town. Clark drove cautiously, if a little too slowly for most. Lois often teased him about driving ‘like a granny’ but he told her he would rather be safe when they had Kally with them.

“So, where are we going?” Lois asked.

“I thought we could go to the museum. Grab some lunch there. Then maybe afterwards we can go to the mall and get Kally some new clothes.”

“All right. But we have to go somewhere that isn’t too expensive. She’ll outgrow her new clothes in a month.”

“Your dad gave me some extra cash to help out,” he said.

Lois smiled. “He’s spoiling her.”

“I guess he feels like he has to make it up to her. And you.”

“Yeah, maybe. The last few months have actually been really good between us. It’s like he’s trying to make up for a lot of things.”

“Give him credit. He did almost lose you. That might have been a little wake-up call for him.”

“You’re right,” she said.

Clark concentrated on his driving. As much as he wanted to talk to Lois, he was worried about how she would react to his secret. It was the same inner debate he’d been having with himself for weeks.

He decided it was something that could wait until they were on their way home again. Why spoil the day, he thought.

Martha had had a long day and was looking forward to relaxing in front of the television with her husband. Usually that meant him falling asleep in the recliner, but that was fine too.

She had just made them both hot cocoa and brought it over to curl up on the sofa when the door slammed. Frowning, she turned her head. Clark came in, his face like thunder. He saw them in the living room and started for the stairs.

“Honey, is everything all right?” she asked.

He paused, squaring his shoulders as he let out a long breath. He turned to look at her.

“I told Lois. About my secret.”

Jonathan cocked an eyebrow. “I take it from your face that it didn’t go so well.”

“No, it didn’t. I’m going to bed.”

“It’s only nine-thirty,” Martha protested.

“I’m tired, Mom. And I don’t want to talk about it.”

Martha turned to look at her husband but he just gave a shrug. She guessed Clark would talk about it eventually but the only thing they could do was let him be.

She had cause to rethink that strategy a week later. It had been a week of shrugs, sulks and slammed doors. It reminded her of when Clark had been a small child. Only then he hadn’t had much control of his abilities and had come close to destroying the house a few times. At least now, Clark knew better than to take his frustrations out on the house. Instead they had a woodpile that closely resembled matchsticks.

He was normally out of the house by nine on a Saturday, so he could spend as much time with his daughter as possible. Martha was meant to start work at the Talon at ten and he had still not left the house.

She knocked on his door.

“Clark, are you going to see Lois today?”

“No,” he said through the closed door.

“Why not?”

“She sent me a text and told me not to come.”

Martha went downstairs where Jonathan was drinking his second cup of coffee for the day. She had tried to get him to drink decaf, especially after he’d had a triple bypass, but her husband stubbornly refused.

“Is he going?”

“Lois apparently sent him a message telling him she didn’t want him to,” she said. “She hasn’t come by the house or the Talon all week.”

He shrugged. “Maybe she just needs a little time to adjust. It would be quite a bombshell to drop.”

“I suppose. Maybe I should go talk to her.”

He shook his head. “Sweetheart, I think they need to work this out themselves.”

She couldn’t help worrying though. Especially when another Saturday passed and Clark hadn’t gone to visit Lois. Martha went to work on the Sunday wondering if she should take an hour off and go talk to Lois.

She wasn’t expecting Lois to be waiting for her when she arrived at the Talon.

“I’m sorry,” Lois said.

“For what?” Martha asked. She frowned. Lois hadn’t brought Kally with her. Martha missed seeing her grand-daughter.

“That I haven’t come by. It’s just …”

She inhaled and let it out slowly. “It’s all right.”

“I guess Clark told you.”

“Not in so many words,” Martha replied. She unlocked the shop door and led the way inside. “Why don’t you come help me open up. Once the girls get here, we can sit down and have a chat.”

Lois bit her lip. “I’d rather not. Not here, anyway. It’s too open.”

Martha immediately understood. Lois wanted to talk about Clark’s secret.

“Then we’ll go talk at the farm. The girls can cover me for an hour or so.”

Once the preparations were done, Martha left the two part-timers to it and drove Lois back to the farm. Jonathan was working on the tractor in the yard and looked up when he heard the car. He shot her a questioning look.

“Is everything all right?”

She nodded. “Lois and I were just going to have a quiet talk,” she said. “Where’s Clark?”

“He went out about an hour ago. He didn’t say where he was going.”

Lois looked a little relieved that Clark wasn’t there. Martha led the way inside.

“Would you like some coffee, sweetie? Or perhaps some tea?”

“Some tea would be nice. Thank you.” She said nothing further and just watched Martha make the tea. Once it was served, they moved into the living room.

“What exactly did Clark tell you?” Lois asked. “About … you know.”

“Only that he’d told you. That was it.”

Lois sighed. “Three little words and it doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

She slowly began to relate what had happened. Clark had told her they needed to talk. She had wondered why he’d been so serious all day. He’d begun to talk in almost abstract ways about how people could be so different yet look the same. She had become so confused that when he had first mentioned the word ‘alien’ she had almost laughed. She’d thought he was making some kind of joke.

Only it was no joke. He told her about having been born on some distant planet, sent to Earth by his birth parents to escape a major cataclysm. Lois had listened incredulously at first, still wondering if there was some hidden camera somewhere and this was like a television show where they filmed someone’s reaction to weird things happening right in front of them.

Then he’d begun talking about having abilities, like speed and immense strength. Lois had always sensed since that first meeting that there was something different about Clark but she had overlooked it, thinking it had just been her imagination. He told her about Metropolis and the red meteor rock. How it had taken away his inhibitions, like some kind of narcotic.

She’d slowly begun to realise that as Kal he had been completely self-centred, focused only on getting what he wanted. He hadn’t cared if she might have got hurt. It was almost as if he’d been two different people. It had explained a lot of what she had felt in the two days she’d spent with him. It also explained why he’d been such a jerk.

What alarmed her was when Clark had begun talking about Kally. How she could have developed abilities in the womb. Which could have made the pregnancy a huge risk for her. Lois had never noticed anything off, but since she had never been pregnant before, she wouldn’t have anyway.

Then Clark had used that word. Hybrid. Lois had looked it up and while it was technically true, since they were two different species, she hated him in that moment. Hated that he could reduce her beautiful, beloved daughter to something so …

“It hurt,” she told Martha. The redhead wrapped her arms around her.

“Oh sweetheart, I know.”

“I mean, I guess she is, you know. It was just too much, all at once.”

“Clark isn’t exactly subtle, sometimes.” Well, that was an understatement, Lois thought.

“I didn’t know what to think or what to say so I just told him to take me home. I guess he took that as me never wanting to see him again, but it’s not. I just needed time to process.”

“I understand, sweetie.”

“I wish I could say I’m glad he told me but I think I might have handled it better if it hadn’t been all at once, you know? I mean, I understand why. Now that Kally’s almost a year old, she might start developing abilities and I guess I need to know what to do.”

Martha nodded. “We talked about it. We don’t really know for sure if she will, or when.”

“Did Clark always have his abilities?”

The older woman shook her head. “He was always strong. Jonathan found him under the bed one day, not long after we found him. Clark just lifted the bed right over his head. It’s quite a big bed, with a heavy oak frame, but he lifted it like it was nothing. To be totally honest with you, love, we were afraid. We took him to a doctor but we couldn’t even take him inside. We thought if the doctor realised what he was, we’d never see him again.”

Lois nodded. She understood now why Clark trusted so few people. She didn’t know much about Lex Luthor but she guessed Clark was afraid that if his friend knew everything about his abilities, Lex might experiment on him or try to manipulate him in some way.

“What about the other abilities?”

“His speed developed when he was about six and then everything else has started to develop in the last few years. I imagine because of puberty.”

“How do you deal with it? I mean, how do you …”

“Believe me, it hasn’t been easy raising a child like Clark. We were always so afraid to let anyone else in because of it. Even now we don’t have all the answers. We made a lot of mistakes when he was little. We couldn’t even let him have a relationship with my father because we were worried he might accidentally expose what he could do and his grandfather wouldn’t take that so well.”

Lois could only wonder what her father’s reaction would be if Kally did suddenly develop powers. She wouldn’t know how to control them. What if he saw them? What would he do? Would he have her locked up?

The thought of what could happen terrified her.

“Oh god, my father! What if Kally …”

“Sweetheart, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. I want you to know that whatever happens between you and Clark, we will always support you. So if you ever have any questions, you can always come to us.”

“Thank you,” she said, giving the older woman a quick hug. “That means a lot.”

The screen door slammed and she looked up. Clark stood in the middle of the room, staring at them. Lois got up from the couch.

“Clark …”

He remained silent.

“I know you’re upset,” she said quietly. “The thing is, you dropped a huge bomb on me and I just needed time to process it, okay? Can we please not fight about this?”

“Where’s Kally?” he asked.

“Bubsy’s looking after her for the day. Please? Can we just go and talk?”

“Fine,” he said shortly.

Lois looked at Martha, who smiled encouragingly. She already knew Clark could get moody sometimes but she could understand why he was upset. They had to work this out. For Kally’s sake at least.

Clark led her outside to the barn. She knew he had a place where he would read or do his homework, but had never been up there herself.

The loft was a good size, with room for a couch, desk and bookshelf. It was obvious the family used some of the space for storage.

Lois sat down on the couch while Clark went to stand at the window, staring out over the fields.

“Clark …”

“No, Lois.”

“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” she protested.

He turned and looked at her. “I get it. It was a lot. But you had to know.”

“Not all at once! You always do that, Clark. It’s either all or nothing with you! Haven’t you ever heard of just easing someone into it? I mean, god, you’re like a bull in a china shop.”

“Do you think I didn’t try to think of some other way to tell you?” he shot back. “I’ve been wracking my brains for weeks trying to figure out how to do it. I knew if I waited too long and Kally started showing signs of having powers, you’d get upset with me and you’d have been right to. You had a right to know what you might be dealing with. The thing is, even I don’t know what will happen. Jor-El said …”

She frowned at him. “Jor-El?”

“He’s my birth father.”

She shook her head, confused. “Wait. I thought your real parents were dead.”

“Martha and Jonathan are my real parents,” he corrected. “Jor-El and Lara were my birth parents.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “You’re right. So, how can you talk to Jor-El if he’s …”

“It’s like an artificial intelligence. Kryptonians were like a thousand years ahead of Earth in their technology.”

She snorted. “Right. A civilisation so advanced it destroyed itself.”

He ran a hand through his hair. It was getting long enough that it was flopping over his forehead and into his eyes.

“Which is where Earth is going if somebody doesn’t do something to stop it.”

“Touche,” she said. She sighed. “Why now? I mean, you’ve waited all this time.”

He looked at her, his expression one of grief. “Alicia.”

She knew she hadn’t really given him a chance to explain the whole story with Alicia and gently asked him to tell her. He sat down on the couch beside her and began telling her everything. She was alternately shocked and amazed to learn about the girl’s ability to teleport. The whole reason she and Clark had begun dating in the first place was because she had covered for him when an elevator at Luthorcorp had plunged several storeys. The fact that the emergency brake had obviously failed told her there had been more at work than a simple accident.

Clark went on to tell her that because they’d shared each other’s secrets, he’d thought he’d found someone he could relate to. That he wouldn’t have to feel so alone. Except Alicia had taken a simple date to mean they were a couple and things had escalated to the point where she had tried to kill Lana. Clark had stopped her and managed to get her the help she needed.

When Alicia had returned, he had known she was worried about something and did his best to help her, but he was no longer interested in a romantic relationship with her. Lois was more than a little angry when she learned the girl had used red K on him to get him to do what she wanted. Since she’d had her own experience with ‘Kal’ she knew what he could be like on it. True to form, he’d acted like a complete jerk and that had scared Alicia off.

He’d acted the same with his parents, who had quickly realised what was happening and used the green meteor rock to get the other stuff away from him.

“Wait. Green?” she asked, frowning at him.

“Red takes away my inhibitions, but green is poisonous to me. It can kill me.”

She felt uneasy. If Kally had any of her father’s abilities, there was a good chance she could also have the same problem. She asked him about that and he paused in his story to ponder it.

“Has she been around any? That you know of?”

She shook her head. “No. There’s none at the inn, thank goodness.”

Clark looked relieved. “I really would rather not find out,” he said.

“Me either. So what happened next? With Alicia I mean. Is that when she got shot?”

“She came back the next day and apologised, told me she thought she could use the red K to get me to run away with her. That’s when Dr McBride showed up. Alicia teleported in front of the bullet.”

Lois frowned. “Why? I mean, the bullet wouldn’t hurt you, would it?”

He shook his head. “No, it would just bounce off. But then that would have exposed my secret and I guess in her own way she was trying to protect me.”

That had changed their friendship. While the rest of the town gossiped about her behind Alicia’s back, Clark continued to look out for her. Lois remembered that one Saturday night Chloe had invited her to go to the Karaoke night at the Talon. Alicia and Clark had come in and she had wondered if they were dating. She didn’t want to say anything to Clark, but she had felt more than a little jealous.

“Well, that’s when Lana got attacked and Jason the next day. The sheriff thought it was Alicia at first and I have to admit I did too. When Jason was attacked, Sheriff Adams told me it couldn’t possibly have been Alicia as she was in one of the interview rooms at the time.”

“So, that guy … what was his name?”

“Tim. He tried to frame Alicia.”

“How? I mean, if there were locked doors …”

“He had a meteor ability. It wasn’t teleporting. He could turn into sand.”

“How did you find out?” she asked. “That it was Tim?”

“Chloe. He was writing articles about Smallville’s ‘glory days’. He asked her out for coffee and took her to the museum. She told me he was talking about Lana and Jason and how they’d deserved what they’d got.”

“That’s hardly a smoking gun, Smallville,” she said.

“No, but then Chloe said he began talking about someone else. That what they’d done ‘wasn’t right’. It made me think he’d already chosen his next target.”

She stared at him. “Who? Who was he talking about?”

Clark was silent for a few moments. “You, Lois. He was talking about you and Kally. The night he murdered Alicia, he was coming to hurt you.”

How could she have not known this? She did vaguely remember the way Tim had stared at her during the Karaoke night and had thought he was a little strange, but she had never considered for a second that he would try to kill her. Or Kally.

“How did I not know this?” she asked.

“You’d already gone to bed,” he told her. “I managed to catch him before he got to the Inn and stopped him.”

She’d been in danger and she had never even known. It was no wonder Clark had been so quiet lately.

“I could have saved Alicia too,” he said.

She frowned. “How? I mean, how could you have known what would happen? You’re not psychic. Or are you? I mean, is that one of your …”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “At least, not so far. It’s just … Alicia asked me to go with her to the sheriff. Tell her about my own abilities so people would stop judging for her past. She thought if people could see that we don’t all turn into psychos who attack people, they might be a little more understanding.”

“But your powers …”

“I don’t think she knew about Krypton,” he said.

“So, you think if you’d just done what she wanted you to, that would have saved her life? You don’t know that, Smallville. You could have exposed yourself and she still might have died.” She put a hand on his knee. “You have to stop punishing yourself.”

He put his hand over hers and looked at her. “But you understand now, why I had to tell you everything. I know it’s a lot to take in, but … I care about you, Lois. I don’t want anything to happen to you, or Kally.”

She found herself looking into his blue eyes. Those eyes, so much like her daughter’s. She saw the weight of the world in those eyes and realised just how much he had to keep hidden. He’d laid it all on the line for her when he’d told her the truth.

“So, what do we do now?” she asked quietly.

“Jor-El wants me to find these stones. I already have one but there are two more out there. Lionel Luthor had one of them.”

“What will these stones do?”

“Help me build something. I’m not exactly sure what but Jor-El called it a Fortress of Knowledge. He wants to be able to see Kally. Well, not see her, exactly, but … Anyway, whatever he does will help him determine if Kally is going to have powers like mine.”

Lois nodded. She didn’t know what was going to happen, but figured it was probably the only way. At least then they would be able to get some idea of what they might be in for. Forewarned is forearmed, she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is the stones arc, but not the witch arc. The rest - the manipulation, the competition with the Luthors, the greed is pretty much still there.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark and Lois begin working together to find the stones.

Clark grabbed the bag from the seat and closed the door of the truck. He entered through the back gate of the Inn, heading down the path to the cabin. He had just made it to the door when he heard wailing inside.

Cautiously opening the door, he looked before stepping in. Kally was crying. Lois had her in her arms, but her efforts to comfort her crying baby were in vain.

“What’s wrong with her?” he asked. Lois winced as Kally’s cries increased in volume.

“I had to go inside for something and she tried to follow me out. She fell over on the flagstones and hit her head.”

Clark examined his daughter. She had a bad bruise on her forehead but the skin wasn’t broken. It probably hurt like hell though. He remembered before he’d got his full invulnerability, he’d hurt himself a few times.

Lois looked desperately at him. “I have to go get something from the inn. Can you take her? See if you can calm her down?”

He nodded and took the baby in his arms, holding her close. He sat down on Lois’ bed, speaking softly to the little girl while Lois hurried out.

“There, you’re okay,” he said. “I know that hurts, baby girl, but you’ll be okay. Want Daddy to kiss it better?”

He pressed his lips softly to the bruise. It was as if his touch was magic as the sobs began to ease until she would just hiccup. He smiled down at her, brushing the hair off her face.

“There. That’s a lot of fuss for a bruise, sweet girl.”

She hiccupped again and pressed her hand to his mouth. He obliged with a raspberry on her palm, making her giggle.

“Daaaa …” she babbled.

She’d been trying out her language skills. She’d almost succeeded in saying ‘mama’ but couldn’t quite seem to get it right. He’d read enough to know that she was at the age where things were starting to make sense but her skills would still be limited.

Lois came back inside, holding a small stick which would allow them to connect to the internet on the laptop.

“I left this inside,” she said. “Hey, how did you get her to stop crying?”

He smirked. “Maybe I just have the magic touch,” he said.

She snorted. “Yeah, and maybe you’re full of it.”

He shrugged. “Maybe she’s just forgotten about it,” he said. “I remember having a few scrapes when I was little but I soon forgot about them.”

Lois frowned, picking up the laptop bag where he’d dropped it on the bed and took it over to the little table.

“I thought you were like really strong when you were little.”

“Strong, but not invulnerable,” he said, still cradling the baby as he got up and went to join her at the table. “I had my share of bruises. The day I met Lex, well, when he hit me with his car, I was bruised for a couple of days.”

She stared at him. “Wait. What? Lex hit you with his car?”

He frowned. “I didn’t tell you about that?”

“No. You told me a lot of things that night but I think I’d remember if you said you’d been hit by a car.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, Lex lost control of his car on Loeb Bridge. I was just standing there, brooding …”

“As you do,” she returned with a grin, implying just how well she knew him. Even if it was true, it still rankled a bit.

He looked down at his daughter as she reached out to the laptop, obviously fascinated with the light from the screen.

“Mean. Your mother is mean, Kally.”

The little girl just grinned up at him and babbled before poking her tongue out experimentally.

Clark sighed. “I get no respect.”

“Poor baby,” Lois returned with a chuckle. “Go on with the story.”

“Where was I?”

“You were brooding.”

“Right. So I saw this car coming toward me and I …”

“Why didn’t you just jump out of the way?” Lois asked. “I mean, you have super speed. You could have just …”

“I froze, okay? Geez, give me a break. I saw this car careening toward me at sixty miles an hour. I mean what would you have done?”

“Okay, fine, fine. I give. So what happened next?”

“Well me and the car go over the rail … actually, no, it wasn’t over, it was through the rail. We end up in the river. I have like a second to wonder why I’m not dead and then I realise that someone’s in that car so I rip back the roof and pull him out.”

She looked at him incredulously. “You rip back the roof? What the fu …” She glanced at Kally and obviously decided to modify what she was going to say. “… heck were you thinking, Smallville? It’s no wonder the guy’s been investigating you if you do a dumb thing like that. I mean, a few dents, a smashed hood can be explained, but ripping the roof off?”

“Oh, well, if you know so much, you can have the super powers and get hit by a car. Geez.”

He understood what she was saying. For days afterward, he had mentally berated himself thinking he shouldn’t have done what he did, but when he’d been in the moment, he had known if he stopped to think for even a second, it could have meant the difference between life and death.

He tried to explain that to Lois.

“Honey, I get that, and you know, hindsight being twenty-twenty and all that, but still … a lot of all that hassle could have been avoided if you’d just not ripped the roof off.” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I know, heat of the moment and stuff. I guess I can’t really talk since I’ll probably never know what it’s like to be in your position.”

He nodded. “Anyway, that was when Dad told me the truth about where I came from. Before that happened, I thought I was just a normal kid with, you know, a few added extras.”

He still remembered the pain of those first few days when he’d been trying to come to terms with his alienness. In many ways, he felt he was still trying to come to terms with it. He loved his parents, but he had felt a little isolated as a child. While he’d had Pete Ross as his best friend, his parents had been over-protective. The revelation had helped explain why they were always so anxious but it still hadn’t made it any easier to deal with.

He cuddled his daughter close. Whether she would develop powers or not, the last thing he wanted was for her to feel the same sense of loneliness he’d felt.

Lois touched his shoulder. “Maybe it’s not quite the same, but I sort of understand where you’re coming from. I mean, things are okay with my dad now, but for the longest time I felt alone too. After my mom died, there was no one to act as a buffer between me and him. If I was sad about Mom, he would just tell me to buck up. It kind of hurt.”

He nodded.

“It felt so wrong, you know? It was like he was telling me to forget all about her. Like I wasn’t allowed to grieve. He’d drag me around the world and he’d never talk to me about how I felt about things. I mean, I know in the army you don’t really get a lot of choice about where you’re transferred to, but it still would have been nice if he’d actually talked to me about it instead of expecting me to just accept it without argument. I think I would start at a new school every two years or so and I remember all the kids would just stare at me. It would take weeks to actually make friends with anyone. Most of them wouldn’t bother because hey, I’d be leaving again in a few months.”

“That must have been so lonely,” he said. It was little wonder he’d felt some kind of connection with her the night they’d met in Metropolis. Something in her had cried out to the loneliness inside him. Maybe their situations had been different, but the feelings were the same.

She studied him. “I know it sounds crazy, but the night we met, I felt like you were someone who understood me in some way.”

He gazed at her. Her eyes were doing an odd little dance and he was filled with the urge to kiss her. Maybe they weren’t ready for anything else but years later he would look back and think that that was the moment he fell in love with her.

The laptop beeped, reminding them of the whole reason he’d brought it with him. They turned to look at the screen.

“So, what exactly are you looking for?” Lois asked.

“I’m not exactly sure. Jor-El didn’t give me much in the way of clues.”

“Well, that’s helpful,” she said sarcastically. He poked her shoulder.

“I used the scanner at the Torch to scan a drawing I made. It’s from memory. I saw it under this illuminated manuscript at Lex’s.” He'd also made sure to delete any trace of what he'd done after he'd saved it on his laptop.

“Whoa, hold up. What is an illuminated manuscript and tell me again why you’re friends with this guy?”

“Um, I’m not totally sure what it is, but I remember this thing had a huge block of text. I’m not sure which century it was from - probably like the 1600s or something. Anyway, it had pictures and these symbols around the border. It was the symbols that told me to x-ray it.” 

“X-ray?”

“Yeah, like how doctors can see your bones and stuff.”

“I know what an x-ray is,” she said. “I guess that’s one of those powers you forgot to tell me about.”

He frowned at her. He’d told her about his speed, his strength, his invulnerability; nope, he hadn’t told her about the x-ray vision, or the heat vision for that matter.

He started to explain but she shook her head. “Not right now, honey. Like I said, not all at once. Otherwise I think my brain will have a meltdown.”

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly.

“That’s all right. One thing at a time. So, you saw the drawing under the manuscript.”

He directed her to a folder on the computer and showed her the drawing. It looked like a map of some kind but he wasn’t completely certain. Then again, he’d really only seen the thing for a couple of minutes. After the manuscript had been stolen, Lex kept it locked in a vault. Unless he was in the middle of studying it.

“Why are you still friends with him, especially after everything he’s done?” Lois asked.

“Sometimes I wonder that myself. I think part of me still thinks I can convince him to change.”

She shook her head. “You can’t force someone to change, Smallville. They have to want to change.”

“You’re right.”

“I’m always right,” she said, with a grin.

“Except when you’re not,” he replied.

“What was that?” she returned.

“Nothing.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “If you weren’t holding Kally …”

He pretended to be incredulous as he stared at her.

“Is that supposed to be some kind of threat, Miss Lane?”

“You’ll know when I’m threatening you. Kal-El,” she added, in a lower voice. He’d told her his birth name to explain why he’d called himself Kal in Metropolis.

She focused her attention on the computer. “I wonder if we can do like some kind of reverse image search and see if anything comes up,” she mused, pressing a few keys to upload the image. She tried a few options for a while. The search didn’t turn up anything helpful.

“It was kind of a long shot,” he said, after a couple of hours, sighing. “I thought about contacting the Swann Foundation.”

“What’s the Swann Foundation?”

He explained about Virgil Swann, telling her how he had found the Kawatche caves and downloading the Kryptonian language into his brain. When he’d accidentally burnt one of the symbols on the barn wall, Chloe had taken a photo of it and published it in the Torch. They’d tried to convince her it was some kind of prank, but she’d taken it more seriously than that.

Mere days after the photo had appeared, Dr Swann had contacted Clark telling him he had a message for him. Clark had gone to meet the scientist and learned that around the same time Krypton had exploded, the man had been researching life on other planets. Ever since then, he’d been providing assistance with research. His recent death had been quite a blow.

Lois grinned at him. “Your life is so strange,” she said.

“Tell me about it,” he replied.

“So, is there anyone you can trust in the foundation?”

“Well, there was Bridgette Crosby, but her email doesn’t work anymore. There’s this other researcher who used to work with Dr Swann. He’d email me sometimes with stuff when Dr Swann was sick or out of town.”

“Well, let’s try him then. He might be able to put us in touch with someone who has some expertise in linguistics.”

Clark frowned. “What if we tried someone in linguistics at Met U?”

“We could, but they might not respond. Especially if it’s not ‘official’.”

He nodded. A professor might not contact them if they said they were just working on a school project. By emailing the man in the Swann Foundation, it would give them another way in.

They decided that was the best option and sent off the email. Kally had got bored and demanded her father let her down and was now playing on the floor with her toys. Clark watched her for a few minutes.

“Thanks for helping me with this,” he said. “It feels good to be able to share this with you. I mean, I know it’s for Kally’s sake and everything, but …”

“No, I get it,” she said. She glanced at the clock on the computer. “It’s almost noon. Did you want to go out for lunch?”

“Sure. Do you want to go to the Talon or somewhere in Granville?”

“The Talon’s fine. Chloe might be there. Um, actually I wanted to ask you something.”

“About what?”

“You and Lana.”

He shook his head. “I still care about her but that ship sailed a long time ago. She’s with Jason now.”

Lois looked dubious. “I don’t know. I saw her and Jason arguing the other day. It’s none of my business, but she looked kind of upset.”

Clark shrugged. “I realised a long time before she went to Paris that we weren’t meant to be. Whatever problems she has with Jason, it has nothing to do with me.”

It probably sounded harsh but he’d questioned it so many times. There had been a lot of occasions where things had felt awkward between him and his former girlfriend. So much that he’d had cause to wonder if it was really meant to be that hard. With Lois, it wasn’t just that he was comfortable with her. He trusted her.

He remembered in junior year when Van McNulty had been going around killing people affected by the meteors. He’d even shot a kid who had been his friend, because his friend had used his meteor-ability to attack Lana. Having had so many run-ins with the meteor-affected, Clark had understood Van’s need for justice, but the teen had resorted to murder and called it vigilante justice. What had hurt the most, however, was that Lana had defended Van’s actions. At least, until Van had set his sights on Clark.

That, to him, felt wrong from every angle. It wasn’t one rule for him and another for everyone else. Maybe they had done terrible things but that didn’t justify murder.  
It had been just another of those moments which had made him question his relationship.

Lois was biting her lip. “If things changed … if Lana dumped Jason and wanted to get back together with you …”

“It wouldn’t happen,” he said. “I mean, I thought I was in love with her for a long time but I realised that in some ways I can’t really trust her. I’ve never even told her the truth about me.”

“You haven’t?”

He shook his head and smiled at Lois. “You’re the first person I’ve actually told.”

“Well, yeah, but that’s because of Kally.”

Maybe she had a point, but if there were no Kally and they’d met under different circumstances, he liked to think she would still be the first person he would voluntarily tell. There was just something about Lois that told him no matter what universe they were in, they were always going to be destined to be in each other’s lives.

When they arrived at the Talon it was busy but Lois still managed to get a table. Clark went to order them some coffees and some food while she got Kally settled. He returned to her side to find Lex talking to her.

“I’ve been seeing you around town,” Lex was saying.

“Oh, that’s nice.”

“And who is this?” he asked, bending down to peer at the eleven-month-old.

“My daughter. Kally.”

“Kally, hmm? Nice name. Did you know she’s got a bruise on her forehead?”

“Yes, I did know, actually,” Lois said coolly. “She tripped on some flagstones and hit her head.”

“I see.”

“Hey, Lex,” Clark said, interrupting the conversation.

“Clark. Didn’t see you there.”

He studied the older man. Lex was wearing a black suit looking almost as if he was going to a funeral. “You’re pretty dressed up for the Talon,” Clark remarked.

“Business meetings. You know how it is.”

He didn’t comment and sat down at the table beside Lois.

“Lunch is on the way,” he said.

Lois smiled at him. “Thank you. It was very nice meeting you, Lex.”

“Nice meeting you too, Lois. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other.” She frowned at the comment. “I mean, because of your friendship with Clark.”

“Oh. Right.”

Clark noticed he completely ignored Kally, walking away with almost a swagger.

“Rude much?” Lois muttered.

“Not a fan, I take it?”

“After what you’ve told me, he … heck no.”

Clark’s mother brought over their coffees and the sandwiches they’d ordered.

“I’m glad to see you two,” she said. “Lois, I invited your father over for dinner tonight. I hope that’s all right.”

Lois nodded. “It’s fine. Dad called me this morning and told me he was coming. He’s been back and forth to Washington a few times lately so I’m sure he’ll be glad for a home-cooked meal.”

Mom smiled. “I’m happy to see you two getting along so well.”

“Yeah. Better than we have in years, actually.”

It was late afternoon when Clark drove to the farm. Lois turned and smiled at her daughter.

“Grandma and Grandpa will be really excited to see you,” she said. Kally babbled something in reply and grinned.

“You nervous about your dad coming for dinner?” Clark asked.

She thought about it for a few seconds. She had had a long talk with her father before he’d gone to Washington and they had had the best conversation they’d ever had. He’d even opened up about her mother’s death and how sorry he was for the way he’d raised her and her sister. There were clearly a lot of things he regretted and he didn’t want to make the same mistakes with his grand-daughter.

Clark had been right when he’d concluded that her leaving home had been a huge wake-up call for the General. He’d more than made up for that ever since, although Lois had had to gently forbid him from spoiling her daughter too much.

“Actually no,” she said. “It’ll be nice to see him, and for him to spend time with all of us. It’s nice, you know? I really love your parents. Your mom and I have talked a lot since you told me about your secret and it’s great that she’s been able to share some of her experience.”

She felt as if she had grown much closer to the older woman in that time. It wasn’t just what the couple had gone through, raising their son. It felt like she was part of a real family.

Clark grimaced. “Yeah, I remember her showing you the bare bottom shots. Let’s hope she doesn’t bring those out on my twenty-first.”

“Aw, like you aren’t going to do the same to Kally when she gets to that age,” Lois retorted. He laughed.

“Hey, it’s supposed to be like a rite of passage for a parent. To embarrass their kids when they become adults.”

She laughed with him. She had no doubt he would take every opportunity to do so. She wondered what Kally would be like when she was older than they were now. Would she be just as adoring of her father as she was now?

She again looked at her daughter and noticed the bruise on her head was a little less pronounced than it had been that morning.

“Hey, Clark, you know that bruise she had this morning?”

Clark glanced over at her but returned his attention to the road. “Sure. What about it?”

“I think it’s faded a little. Bruises don’t heal that quickly, do they?”

“We’re almost at the farm. I’ll have a look when I’ve stopped the truck.”

She waited until he’d stopped in the driveway and unlatched her seatbelt. She turned to release her daughter from the harness while Clark undid his own belt and examined her.

“I think you’re right, Lois,” he said.

She sent him a long look, biting her lip. “I guess this means she does have some of your abilities.”

“We can’t rule it out,” he replied.

Lois didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but in some ways, she hoped she was wrong and that it wasn’t a sign of what was to come. From what Clark had told her, he’d faced some difficulties as a child, just learning to deal with his own abilities.

Clark seemed to sense what she was thinking.

“Hey, hey, it’s too early to start worrying about what if,” he said. “And if she does have my abilities, we will deal with it. At least she’ll have the benefit of my experience.”

She nodded. He was right. Since he already knew what it was like, he would be able to teach Kally. If they could just get the stones his birth father had asked for, they might be able to talk to Jor-El and find out for sure.

Jonathan came out from the barn, taking off his leather gloves. He smiled at them.

“Had a good day?” he asked.

Lois nodded. “It’s been a nice day. I can’t wait until summer though.”

The weather had been somewhat unsettled where it was cold one minute and warm the next.

Clark grimaced. “Ugh, in the meantime I’ve got finals. Graduation. Prom.”

“You are going, aren’t you?” Lois asked him, watching as Jonathan picked up his grand-daughter and began babbling nonsense to her. He walked off with the little girl in his arms.

Clark shrugged. “I don’t know. There isn’t anyone I really want to go with.”

“You could go with Chloe,” she said. “Or you could just go by yourself. I mean, you don’t have to have a date.”

She’d missed her own prom since she’d been made to leave before the end of her senior year. Not that she would have had enough credits to graduate, she thought. She had never really focused on her studies, mostly out of a fit of rebellion. Now that she had a real purpose for getting her high school diploma, she was much more determined to do it right.

“I do care about Chloe, but only as a friend. You know that, right?”

Lois nodded. Earlier in the year, there had been an incident at school where some of the cheerleaders had made some kind of ‘love drug’ which basically forced their football player boyfriends to do whatever they wanted. Chloe had managed to drink the drugged Kool-aid and had come onto Clark. He’d always known she had feelings for him - he wasn’t that dense after all, but he’d had to gently tell her that he didn’t feel the same way.

They started to walk together to the house.

“Anyway, prom’s over a month away. There’s still Kally’s birthday.”

“Do you think we should have a party?” she asked.

“Who would we invite?”

“Well, there’s Chloe and my dad. And Bubsy, and your parents. I guess that’s pretty much it.”

“She won’t really understand. I think if we just had something small … maybe at the Inn. Then the staff can come too,” he said.

“Are you sure? I mean, won’t they want to know why your parents are there?”

They had been careful to ensure that the staff didn’t know Clark was Kally’s father in case it got around town. It wasn’t just that Smallville was a town filled with busybodies. It was also out of a need to protect the little girl in case someone unscrupulous figured out Clark’s secret and tried to hurt Kally to get to him. Lois had always wondered why he’d insisted they keep that information to themselves before she’d known about him, but now that she did know, she understood.

He looked thoughtful. “Yeah, maybe that’s not such a good idea. Why don’t we talk it over with our parents tonight. I mean, the party’s really for us, more than Kally. She’s too young to know what it means.”

“That’s true.”

Martha greeted them at the door. “Where’s Kally?” she asked.

Clark grinned. “Dad took off with her. I think he’s showing her the cows or something.”

The older woman laughed. “Every time,” she said.

Lois couldn’t help laughing with her. Jonathan loved taking his grand-daughter around the farm, even if she didn’t understand what she was seeing.

Clark took his laptop upstairs so she followed Martha into the kitchen. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.

“If you wouldn’t mind setting the table, sweetheart.”

She went to get the silverware and plates from the drawers.

“How are things with you and Clark?” Martha asked.

“They’re good,” she said. “I mean, we’re still taking things one step at a time. He knows now not to overload me with information, which is cool.”

“His father and I had a long talk with him about that and told him not to be in such a rush. Let you ask questions and give you time to adjust.”

She nodded. “Exactly. I don’t know where he gets it from but honestly, he can be a bit obtuse at times. Not that he’s not smart. It’s just …”

“Oh, don’t worry. His father can be exactly the same. On one of our first dates, he took me to this fancy restaurant. Pulled out all the stops to impress me. Must have cost him a fortune! I finally had to pull him up on it and tell him he didn’t need to take me to a fancy restaurant. You know what he said?”

Lois shook her head. Martha continued. “How else was he going to compete with all those fancy society people I was used to dealing with?” She sighed. “I told him if I wanted to go out with society people, I would have.”

“Let me guess,” Lois said, amused. “Total bores?”

“There was this investment banker my father tried to set me up with. All he talked about all night was stock management, and we’re not talking animal husbandry.”

“Oh God, I would have been asleep in five minutes!” she replied.

Martha chuckled. “Believe me, I was fighting to keep my eyes open.”

The two women giggled.

“Clark helps me with my study sometimes. I mean, the books can get so boring but he explains it in a way that helps me understand it better. He was telling me about this one story Lex told him about Alexander the Great and it was way better than the history book I was reading.” She smiled. “He’s really great with Kally too. I was watching him the other night when he was putting her to bed. He was reading her this story and doing all the voices.”

She’d fallen a little more in love with him that night. Not that she would ever tell him that. After all, they had agreed to being just friends. At least for now.

Martha sent her a knowing look. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

Clark returned and helped her set the table before going to help his mom in the kitchen. Jonathan came in shortly after. He put Kally down to pull off his boots and she toddled over to her grandmother. Martha picked her up.

“Well look at you. You’re getting so good at that, little girl. Want to help Grandma in the kitchen?”

Lois sat on the barstool watching her daughter and the older woman together. She loved the way Kally babbled to her grandma and Martha listened as if she could understand every word. It was really sweet.

The General arrived shortly after and made a fuss over his grand-daughter before they sat down to dinner. He insisted on feeding her, even while his own dinner cooled.

“Daddy,” Lois gently admonished him as he played with Kally, making a noise like an aeroplane as he fed her. “Your food’s getting cold.”

He grinned at her. “Cold or hot, it’s still much better than rations.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Sam,” Martha replied.

He once again turned to look at Kally, tickling her and making her giggle.

“You’re getting so big now. Every time I go away, you grow a little more.” He frowned. “Where did you get the bruise from, sweetheart?” he asked. He looked around at Lois.

“She tripped on the flagstones outside the cabin,” Lois explained.

“Guess you haven’t quite got your sea legs yet, huh pumpkin,” Jonathan put in before her father could ask more questions.

“Um, so we were thinking of having a birthday party for Kally next month,” Clark announced, obviously figuring he could distract the General with a change of subject. “We were going to have it at the Inn but maybe we can have it here at the farm.”

“What do you think, Daddy?”

“I think that’s a great idea, sweetheart. Who would you invite?”

“Well, you, of course, and Bubsy. And Chloe.”

“I can make the cake,” Martha offered. “What about the staff at the Inn?”

“I think they’ll be too busy with work,” Clark said, giving his parents a meaningful look. “The party might be too disruptive.”

“The inn’s getting into its busy time by then,” Lois reminded the others.

“Speaking of the inn,” Jonathan said. “How are those repairs holding?”

“You might have to talk to Bubsy, but I think they’re holding okay.”

“Hmm, I was there a couple of weeks ago and it looks like some of the rooms could do with some repairs,” her father said. “There are a few cracks in the walls here and there, and they could do with a fresh lick of paint. Leave it with me. I can get some of the boys to help out.”

Lois looked gratefully at him. “That would be really great, Daddy. Thank you.”

Jonathan smiled at her. “So how are your studies going, Lois?”

“Good. I think I’m almost ready to take the exams.”

Her father cleared his throat. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something. I know you want to do this your own way and I’m so proud of you for that, but I have some money put aside for college tuition. I’ve been looking into Central Kansas and I think you can study for a degree part-time, if necessary. What do you think, sweetheart?”

“Oh, Daddy, that would be amazing!” she said. “I’d have to find college papers I could schedule around my job, but if I talk to Bubsy I know she’ll work something out.”

She really wanted to be a good example to her daughter and going to college classes meant she could really work toward her chosen career. She had never forgotten the conversation she’d had with her friend about her future. She knew she couldn’t be a maid forever.

After dinner, Lois helped Jonathan with the dishes. He quietly mentioned the bruise, glancing up to make sure the General wasn’t listening. He was talking with Martha, the baby dozing in his lap.

“So what happened with the bruise?” Jonathan asked.

“Kally tried to follow me into the Inn this morning,” Lois said. “She really did trip and fall. The bruise looks a couple of days old instead of just a few hours.”

He nodded. “Clark would get bruises when he was little, but they would heal quickly. Maybe Kally’s showing signs of getting her father’s abilities.”

“I asked Clark and he thought we should just wait and see for now. I mean, we can’t rule it out, but we don’t want to jump the gun either.”

She didn’t mention helping Clark with the search for the stones. He’d already told her his parents were a little uneasy with him contacting Jor-El.

Her father stood up, with Kally in his arms.

“Jonathan, Martha, thank you for dinner, but I think it’s time we got this little one into bed.”

“You’re right, Dad,” Lois said, smiling up at him.

They said their goodbyes and went out to the car. Her father drove her back to the inn and pulled up in the driveway. He got out of the car and lifted Kally out, preparing to hand her over.

“Do you want to help me put her to bed, Daddy? You could read her a story.”

He smiled. “That would be wonderful, sweetheart.”

He followed her through the back gate and down the path to her cabin, pausing to look around him.

“You’ve got this place looking good, Lo,” he said.

“Well, Clark’s been helping with a lot of it.”

“He’s a good man. And a good father. I’m so proud of you both. You’ve really grown up, Lo.”

She nodded, opening the door. Within a few minutes she had helped her father get Kally into pyjamas and reading her a story. He was nowhere near as good as Clark at doing the voices, but her daughter seemed to love it just the same. It wasn’t long before she fell asleep.

Lois and her father left the room quietly. She hugged him outside the door.

“I meant what I said,” he said in a low voice. “I’m so proud of you. If I hadn’t been so stubborn …”

She shushed him. “Daddy, you don’t need to keep apologising for what happened.”

“I love you, Lo.”

“I love you too, Dad,” she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “Goodnight.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark has news for Lois on their project

Clark walked down the corridor saying ‘hi’ to a couple of friends before opening the door to the Torch office. Chloe had left him a note in his locker to come down in his lunch period. He was surprised to see Lois sitting at the desk while Chloe sat on the couch playing with Kally.

Clark smiled at his friend. “Lois. This is a surprise. What are you doing here?”

“It’s a nice day so I thought I’d come down and visit Chloe,” she said.

Kally turned to look at him and held her arms out. “Daaaa!”

With a grin he picked her up and held her close. Chloe pouted.

“Daddy’s girl!” she said.

He chuckled. “Can I help it if I’m just plain ol’ irresistible?” he asked.

“You wish!” the blonde shot back. “On that note,” she added, getting up from the couch, “I’m gonna go get myself some lunch.” She walked to the door and looked at them. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Clark huffed and shook his head, looking down at his daughter.

“That’s your aunt Chloe for you,” he said. “Thinks she’s a comedian.”

Kally wrinkled her nose and pouted. Lois laughed.

“Careful Kally. The wind’ll change and you’ll have that face forever.”

Clark groaned softly. “My mom’s always saying stuff like that.”

“Yeah, my dad says it too,” she replied with a laugh. She went to the door and closed it softly. “Okay, so I got your message this morning.”

He smiled. He’d wondered why she really had come down to the school. At least Chloe was helping their cause in some way by pretending the visit was really for her.

“I got an email from the Swann Foundation,” he said. “There’s a linguistics professor at Met U.”

“Did you email him?” Lois asked excitedly.

“Her, actually. And I didn’t have to. She knew exactly what it was about. There’s an old temple. In China.” He told her the professor knew of someone who had been studying the symbols at the temple. For some reason the Chinese government had left it alone despite destroying other items of cultural significance. 

Lois looked stunned. “China? Smallville, how on Earth are you going to get to China? It’s not like you have access to a plane. Or can you, you know, fly?”

He grimaced. He remembered being able to fly as Kal-El in the summer when he’d retrieved the first stone, but the fears he had as Clark were still too strong for him to attempt it. He’d told Lois almost everything, including the times he’d woken up floating.

Lois obviously remembered what he’d told her as she sighed.

“Honey, you really have to figure out a way to get past all that,” she said.

“I know. The thing is, even though I can run pretty fast, I don’t think I can run fast enough to jump the North Pacific into China. I’d probably have to run all the way up to Alaska and around the Arctic or something.”

“That’s at least doable. You could be there and back in … what, a day?”

“Maybe less, if I don’t run into trouble.”

“So, it’s at least possible,” she said. “You have to. I mean, there’s more than your future at stake here. I don’t want to come off so ‘Lois’ but we need to know if Kally’s going to have your abilities. I mean, it’s as much for her protection as anything else. You know what it was like to grow up with your powers. And forewarned being forearmed and all that, and you know I’d help you if I could but I don’t think I could convince my dad to let you on a military transport …”

“Lois!” he said. He’d been trying to get a word in edgewise for at least the last two sentences. She sighed.

“Sorry, I do that.”

He chose not to comment on her babbling. She was right. It was more for Kally’s sake than anything else that they were doing this. Clark hadn’t been ready to face whatever destiny Jor-El had apparently laid out for him, but he knew if he was going to protect his little girl, he had to go along with it.

There hadn’t been any further signs since the bruise on her head. That had faded within a couple of days – fast enough that it had been noticeable. At least to them. They’d been careful to avoid anyone who didn’t know his secret.

They decided to email the professor and find out a little more detail. Meanwhile, Chloe had returned with food, bringing a banana for Kally. She held out the sweet fruit.

“Kally, banana. Can you say banana?”

The little girl frowned as Chloe repeated it, clearly trying to work her mouth in the same way as her aunt.

“She hasn’t even said ‘mom’ yet,” he told her.

The blonde shrugged. “Worth a shot. So, I’m all for these little visits, but if Reynolds finds out …”

“What’s he gonna do, Chlo? It’s a month to graduation.”

Still, they both knew the principal wouldn’t approve. He’d always taken a hard line with his students, telling them he had high expectations of them. Especially Clark, who had had a run-in with the principal in his sophomore year. Terrance Reynolds had once been the headmaster of Excelsior Preparatory Academy, the private school Lex had gone to. When he’d realised Clark was friends with Lex, he’d warned him about the other man. Clark still didn’t know what the man had against Lex and hadn’t asked his friend either.

Lois decided not to chance it and left shortly before the lunch period was over. Clark watched her go, promising to visit her the next morning, since he had a free morning.

Chloe sipped from a can of root beer, gazing at him.

“What?” he asked.

“Where do you see this going?” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“You and Lois. I see the way you look at her.”

He shrugged. He hadn’t known it was that obvious that he had feelings for Lois, although he wasn’t sure where it was going. “I don’t know. Right now all we can focus on is Kally and getting through college. We don’t really have time for anything else.” Well, it was partly true. 

“But you admit there’s something there,” she said.

“Chloe, I’d really rather not talk about this. Not with you.”

Her stare was almost piercing. “Why?”

“I don’t need to give you a reason. You’re my best friend, you know that, but I’m not going to discuss my relationship with Lois with you.”

She frowned. “Are you mad at me? You are, aren’t you? I knew it. You said you forgave me for Uncle Sam, so why are you …”

He huffed. “Chloe! I’m not mad at you. I know you were put in a bad position where Sam was concerned and I’m not blaming you for that. I just … I don’t even know where this is going with Lois, but you’re not the first person I’d be discussing it with. It’s not fair to Lois, or Kally!”

She grimaced. “Oh, God. I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m sticking my nose in where it’s not wanted.” She chewed on her lip. “I’m really sorry, Clark. It’s just … well, Lois is my cousin and with everything that happened I just …”

He subsided, crouching down beside her. “Chloe, I know you care about Lois. I know you don’t want her to get hurt. I don’t want that either. That’s why I need to take things slowly with her. Okay? I don’t know how she feels about me but right now neither of us are ready to take that step. I know that sounds kind of dumb, considering there’s Kally, but us sleeping together was a mistake. I’m not saying Kally was a mistake, because in some ways, becoming a dad has made me see things a lot clearer than I used to.”

She gazed at him, her eyes dancing. “You sound so grown up, Clark. I kind of envy you.”

He shook his head. “Becoming a parent forces you to grow up,” he said. “As much as I love Kally, it’s not something I would recommend.”

“Still, you realise you’re going to be in big trouble when she’s older. She’s going to break a lot of hearts.”

He smiled fondly, thinking of his adorable daughter. Even his mother often said she was ‘cute as a button’. Of course they might all be biased. Probably every parent, or every loving parent, thought that way about their child. “Yeah, I know. That’s why there’s no way in hell I’m letting her date until she’s an adult.”

“Like you’re gonna have a choice?” she returned. “I can see it now. She’s gonna be a teenager and come home with a boyfriend, only for him to have to face the wrath of Daddy. You won’t even need a shotgun.”

He frowned. She’d been saying a lot of strange things to him lately. Her remarks had been slightly off. When he’d announced he wasn’t going to take up the scholarship at Met U, she’d told him she was proud of him for the decision, telling him she was sure he was destined for more than scoring touchdowns.

“Why do you say that?” he asked.

She looked hesitant. “Well, I mean, you’re a big guy,” she said after a few moments. “You’d be really intimidating to potential boyfriends.”

Why did he get the impression that wasn’t exactly what she had been intending to say? Clark pondered the issue for the rest of the day but couldn’t come up with an answer.

As he was putting his stuff in his locker after last period, he ran into Lana.

“Hi,” he said.

“Oh, hi,” she replied. She seemed a little nervous.

“Is everything okay?” he asked as they began walking toward the main door.

“Oh, no, everything’s fine.”

“How are things with you and Jason?” he queried, knowing she was still dating the former football coach.

“Um, they’re okay,” she said. He frowned, wondering why she was so hesitant and looking like she would rather look anywhere but at him.

It had been rather a surprise to him when he’d seen Lana talking to the new assistant coach last Fall. He wasn’t that obtuse that he hadn’t caught the vibes from the two of them. It later came out that the pair were dating and once the school administration learned of it, Jason had been fired.

Clark hadn’t said anything to Lana or even given any hint that he wanted to pick up where they’d left off over a year earlier. As far as he was concerned, they were over and done with. He didn’t know whether it was because of Lois and Kally, but any feelings he had for his former girlfriend had died long ago.

“Um, so are you gonna go to Prom?” Lana asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I was thinking I’d just go on my own though.”

He had considered asking Lois, but didn’t know if she would want to go with him. He didn’t want her to get the wrong idea and think that he was ready to explore his feelings for her. Friendship was all he could really handle right now, he thought. He didn’t want to go into the what-ifs of what happened if things didn’t work out between them. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her or his daughter.

“You read Chloe’s article though,” she said.

“You mean the ‘election of prom royalty is an archaic and elitist ritual’ Chloe Sullivan specialty rant?” he asked.

She laughed. “That’s the one.” She studied him. “What are you planning?”

He tried to look innocent. “Me? I’m not planning anything.”

“Yeah, right. I know you, Clark Kent. You’re up to something.”

“I might have put a couple of feelers out.”

“About what?” she asked.

“You’ll see. Tomorrow.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You know, I don’t know Chloe’s cousin all that well, but I think she’s a bad influence on you.”

He grinned at her, glad she was finally starting to relax enough to tease him.

“Is that right? Well, maybe Lois had nothing to do with it.”

“What is up with you two, anyway? You hang out a lot together.”

He caught the note in her voice that suggested it was more than just a casual enquiry. She was fishing for something.

“We’re friends,” he said. “Lois has been studying for her high school equivalency and I’ve been helping her with her studies.”

Lana nodded. “I guess with Kally and everything, she wouldn’t have been able to finish school. It’s nice that you’re helping her. She seems like a really great person.”

“She is. I think you’d really like her if you got to know her.”

She turned to head to the parking lot. “Well, I should get going. You’d think the teachers would give us a break from homework this close to graduation.” She made a face and sighed dramatically.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” he agreed, wondering what homework she was talking about, since he hadn’t been given any himself and they still shared a few classes. Obviously it was a way for her to end the conversation without sounding rude.

He got up early the next morning to do his chores. His father came in, frowning at him.

“You’re up early.”

“I’m going to see Lois before school,” he said.

“I thought you only saw her on weekends,” his dad asked.

“Yeah, but she has some last-minute cramming to do on a paper and asked me to tutor her.”

“Hmm,” was all his father replied. Clark didn’t want to lie to his parents but he knew how they felt about Jor-El and his orders to search for the stones. He figured they probably wouldn’t appreciate him involving Lois either, but somehow it felt right that she was working on it with him.

“You two seem to be getting very close.”

He watched his father work for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah. I can’t explain it, but somehow, I don’t feel so alone when I’m with her. It’s not because of Kally,” he added. He’d felt that the night they’d met.

“Lois is a very special young woman,” his father replied. “I know your mom is very fond of her.”

It looked like she wasn’t the only one, Clark thought.

“Just, don’t go rushing into anything.”

“Don’t worry, Dad. We’re just friends right now.”

The blond farmer looked a little sceptical. Clark could understand. He constantly had to remind himself that he was the one who had made that decision and drawn the line between them. As much as he wanted to, he knew he wasn’t ready to cross that line. Not yet.

He left the farm an hour or so later. Lois was feeding Kally breakfast in the kitchen. She smiled when he came in.

“Hi. We’re just having breakfast,” she said, showing the plate of berry yoghurt, which was Kally’s favourite.

Clark noticed she hadn’t finished her own breakfast. “Why don’t I finish feeding Kally so you can eat your breakfast,” he suggested.

She nodded. “Okay. But I warn you, she’s in one of those moods.”

Kally sometimes got a little recalcitrant and would refuse to eat what she was given. He pushed the sleeves up and gazed sternly at his daughter.

“I hear you’ve been giving your mother trouble, young lady.”

She shook her head, her dark curls bouncing around.

He held out a spoonful of yoghurt but the one-year-old again shook her head stubbornly then babbled something that sounded almost like ‘no’, as if she was back-talking him.

“Kally Lane-Kent, are you talking back to me?” he said, hearing a snort of laughter from Lois. He turned and glared at his friend and she gazed back at him with an innocent expression.

Kally again babbled something, drawing his attention back to his daughter. She had dipped her hand in the bowl and was scrunching up her fist.

“Smallville!” The warning came a second too late. The little girl had thrown the yoghurt straight at her father. Lois burst out laughing. “Told you she was in one of those moods.”

Yoghurt dripped down his face. It was only a small amount but it was enough. Kally was giggling loudly, clearly very pleased with herself, having won whatever game she had decided they were playing.

Clark growled softly and began tickling his little girl, making her giggle harder.

“Oh, you think that’s so funny,” he said. “You’re just a funny girl, aren’t you? You’re just like your mom.”

Lois scoffed. “I never!”

He shot her a knowing look. “Oh, really? That’s not what your dad told me. At your first birthday party you threw chocolate cake everywhere. He even showed me photos.”

“Oh, that is a low blow, Kent! I know somebody who decided to go rolling in mud, without his clothes on. And I’ve seen the evidence!” She smirked at him.

“You always have to have the last word, don’t you, Lane?” he accused.

“Yup.”

He looked at Kally who was looking from one parent to the other, a big cheesy grin on her face. 

“Now I know where she gets it from,” he said, glaring as Lois got up to put her dishes in the sink.

“Poor baby,” Lois cooed.

Clark stood up, stalking over and standing behind her as she rinsed her plate. She turned, a little disconcerted at his closeness.

“Smallville! Personal space!”

He frowned, remembering the night at Atlantis and his efforts to get her to dance with him. He was not exactly a skilled dancer, but on red K he hadn’t cared how it looked. He’d tried to pull her closer, but she’d said the same thing to him that she was saying now.

Despite her apparent discomfit, he could see her pulse was racing. His own heart was pounding so hard he would have been surprised if she couldn’t hear it.

Lois licked her lips, leaving a light sheen. Clark couldn’t tell if she’d done it unconsciously or deliberately but he felt the urge to kiss her. It wasn’t the first time he’d felt it but each time it went unfulfilled, it became stronger.

The little voice inside him that kept those feelings at bay reminded him once again not to cross that line, but he didn’t want to listen. After everything he’d said to Chloe the day before, he realised he knew where he wanted things to go with Lois. The question was, did she want the same?

“Clark!”

Frowning, he took in the note in Lois’ voice and heard Kally trying to say something. He turned and looked at his daughter. She was attempting to shove fistfuls of yoghurt in her mouth, getting it all over her face, her hair and the high chair, looking extremely pleased with herself.

She noticed them watching and grinned. “Mama,” she said clearly, holding out a hand coated in yoghurt.

Lois began to laugh, her giggles quickly becoming guffaws. Clark joined her a second later.

Once they were able to get some semblance of control, Clark grabbed the cloth and took the bowl away, wiping down the high chair and Kally’s hands.

“Looks like you need a bath, little girl,” he scolded. He shook his head. “What a mess!”

“She’s your kid, Smallville.”

He snorted. “Yeah, I’m not gonna touch that one, Lane!” He picked up the baby and carried her out to the cabin to give her a bath in the small tub they’d managed to find at a Granville store.

He was just dressing her when Lois came out with Kally’s bottle. Now that her game was over, the one-year-old was looking ready for a nap. They laid her down in the crib.

Lois had grabbed his laptop and set it up on the table. He’d forgotten he’d left it in the kitchen.

“Thanks,” he said quietly.

She sat beside him as he sent off the email to the professor. They had no idea how long it would take before they got a reply, but since he still had an hour or so before his first class of the day, he decided to wait it out.

The silence between them felt a little awkward. Clark wondered if Lois was thinking about what had almost happened earlier.

“Uh, about before,” he began. “I didn’t mean to come on so strong.”

She frowned at him. “What are you talking about?”

“You know, in the kitchen.”

“Nothing happened, Smallville.”

“But I wanted it to,” he replied.

“I know. The thing is …” She sighed. “The thing is, I don’t know if I’m ready for that. I mean, what if whatever happens between us falls apart. I don’t want Kally to get hurt.”

“Kally? Or you? I mean, isn’t that what this is really all about? Even if it didn’t work out between us, it’s not going to change how I feel about Kally. She’s still going to be my daughter.”

She huffed. “I can’t. I mean, you were right when you said friendship was all we could handle right now. It’s not that I don’t think about it. I do, you know. But not now. Maybe some day, when we’ve got our lives together.”

She was right. No matter how tempting it was, his logic brain told him it wasn’t the right time. Not yet.

The computer beeped, letting them know he had an email. He turned to read it.

“It’s from the professor,” he said. “She’s given me the location of the temple.” The rest of the email sent his heart plummeting. “Somebody might have beaten us to it. Apparently there was some kind of deal done with the Chinese government to allow an archaeological expedition.”

“You don’t know that they found the stone,” Lois reminded him.

“No, I know, but …”

“Go check it out,” she said. “Now.”

He quickly checked the time in China. It would be night, but that was probably a good thing, he thought. He could investigate the site under cover of darkness.

He left the inn and ran his way up through Alaska and over the Arctic back down to China. He located the temple on the outskirts of the city of Shanghai. To his dismay, there were still archaeologists working on site. As he got closer, he saw the Luthorcorp logo.

“Lex,” he murmured.

He returned to Smallville a short time later. Lois was waiting for him.

“What happened?”

He told her what he’d seen. Lois looked as disappointed as him.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“I have to find out if Lex has the stone.”

“How are you going to do that? You can’t confront him. For one thing, he’ll deny it. For another, that will just put you back under his radar.”

He ran a hand through his dark locks. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Maybe Jor-El can locate the stone,” she suggested.

It was a long shot, he thought, but he consulted with his birth father, who confirmed that there was no way for him to locate it.

There was only one other way. Clark was sure if Lex did have possession of the stone, he would have it locked away in a vault somewhere. The question was, how could he find that out without Lex figuring out what he was doing?

Unfortunately, Dawn Stiles, the school’s resident ‘Queen Bee’ put paid to any opportunity he had to figure it out until prom was over. Dawn had been humiliated when her boyfriend had broken up with her, in public, the day before prom. Smarting over that, and Chloe being nominated for prom queen, she had plotted to find a new date for the senior dance as she drove home. Police would later figure she had been on her cellphone when she lost control of her car and ended up in Shuster’s Gorge.

Thanks to some green Kryptonite, Dawn’s spirit had been able to possess others and she’d used that ability to get what she wanted, which was the prom crown, through Chloe. Even that hadn’t quite gone to plan and Clark had had to stop her burning down the entire school.

His opportunity came the day after, when Lex invited him to play pool at the mansion. Careful to ensure the cameras didn’t pick up what he was doing, he was able to x-ray the vault. The stone was nowhere to be seen.

Either Lex hadn’t found it either or someone else had found it and taken it.

Bubsy stopped Lois as she finished cleaning one of the rooms.

“Sweetie, would you mind going into town for me to run some errands?”

She smiled at her friend and boss. “Of course not.” It was part of her job but Bubsy always made it sound like she was doing her a favour.

The older woman nodded, handing her a card and a list. “Why don’t you take Kally with you?” she suggested. “I’m sure you both could do with some fresh air. And don’t hurry back, sweetheart.”

Lois watched as her boss walked away, before glancing down at the items Bubsy had handed her. There was a voucher for a free coffee at the Talon. She chuckled lightly to herself, thinking how crafty the other woman was. She never said anything but it was her way of spoiling Lois.

She didn’t need any further prompting, grabbing what she needed and taking one of the cars the inn used to drop guests off at the train or bus station. It was warm as she headed into town. Kally sat in the car seat, happily babbling away, attempting to sing along with the radio.

Once Lois had finished the errands, she parked outside the Talon and picked her daughter up. A boy she recognised as one of Clark’s football friends held the door open for her. Kally gave him a big grin as a thank you.

It was busy in the coffee shop with a line about five deep. Martha was working at the counter as she stepped up to give her order. The redhead beamed.

“Hello, sweetie. Hello Kally. What are you two up to today?”

“Just running some errands for the inn,” Lois said. She handed over the voucher. Martha shot her a knowing look and turned to start making the order.

“Can I get some juice for Kally as well?”

“Of course you can, sweetheart. Why don’t you go find a table and I’ll bring it over.”

Lois looked around the crowded café for a table. There wasn’t one to be found, but the boy from earlier waved her over. He was sitting with a couple of others.

“You can sit with us,” he said. “We don’t mind. Any friend of Clark’s …”

“Thank you,” she replied.

“So, you’re Lois, right?” one of the others said. “Clark talks about you.”

She was surprised. “He does?”

“Yeah. He said you two were good friends. I’m Mike, by the way. That loser is Justin,” he added, pointing to the boy who had invited her to sit with them. “And this jerk is Tom.” He pointed to the third boy. “I’m guessing this is Kally.” He smiled at her daughter.

“I heard Clark was helping you study for your high school equivalency,” Justin said.

She nodded in confirmation, curious to know exactly what Clark had been telling them.

She wondered if Justin was trying to find out if there was more to it than that. She couldn’t help thinking about what had almost happened the other day. Maybe Clark had been teasing her, trying to get her back for laughing at him, but he had been coming on a little strong. She had wondered if he really would have kissed her if she hadn’t seen what Kally was up to.

It was a little unfair, she thought. Clark had said all along they should really focus on friendship but he kept stirring her emotions, making her think he wanted more than that. They really weren’t ready. They both had four years of college ahead of them and while it wouldn’t be that hard to have a relationship, she had far too much to worry about with trying to raise her daughter and keep her job as well. Bubsy was a good boss and a good friend, but she still deserved Lois’ full attention when she was scheduled to work.

Lois chatted with the three boys as she drank her coffee and Kally drank her juice from a sipper bottle Martha had thoughtfully provided. Her daughter once again proved just how much of a little heartbreaker she was, giving their table companions big grins as they played with her.

She was beginning to get the impression that Justin wanted to ask her out. As much as she appreciated it, she knew she would have to let him down gently. If she didn’t already have feelings for Clark, there was no way she could even consider dating, just by the mere fact that Kally and her job took up a lot of her time already.

The three boys left after a while. Martha came to sit down beside her.

“Finally time for a break,” she said, giving her grand-daughter an adoring smile. Kally happily agreed to sit on her lap. “So, how are you doing, sweetie?”

“I’m fine,” Lois told her. “How was the prom last night?”

She knew Clark’s parents had agreed to chaperone the senior dance. Martha began telling her about the girl who had died and her spirit had somehow been able to possess others. Clark had stopped her, with help from his dad.

“I would have thought Clark would have asked you to go with him,” Martha said.

Lois nodded. They’d talked about it over the phone but she’d told him as much as she regretted missing her own prom, she had felt it better that they didn’t go together. People already talked enough about the amount of time they spent together, judging from what Clark’s three friends had told her and if they’d gone to the dance as a couple, it would have just started the rumour mill going full force. She wasn’t sure she wanted to subject her daughter to any potentially nasty gossip.

As she chatted to Martha, she couldn’t help noticing Lana and Jason arguing about something. The relationship was rather odd. Lana had apparently told Chloe that the reason she’d left Paris was because she had found out Jason had only got involved with her because of some scam he was working. When he’d come to Smallville and got a job at the school, he’d somehow managed to convince her that it was because he was in love with her.

It seemed like one week they were on and the next they were off again. Clark had even commented that it had been just as bad when he’d been dating the brunette. Lois wondered if Lana really knew what she wanted and was just using excuses to keep backing off the relationship.

Her conscience nagged at her and she wondered if perhaps she was using Kally as an excuse not to get into a relationship with Clark. While it was true they did have a relationship of sorts, it wasn’t a romantic one. Was she afraid of the outcome? Was she afraid of losing herself by being with him?

“You look miles away, sweetheart. Is there anything wrong?”

“No, well, not really. I just can’t help thinking about me and Clark. I mean, I keep thinking I’m not ready for, you know, that kind of relationship with him. I do have feelings for him and I can’t just turn those off, but …”

“Lois, being in a relationship is never easy. Goodness knows, Jonathan and I have never had it easy. My father didn’t approve. He wanted me to study law and didn’t like it when I chose to marry a farmer.”

“That’s just it. I mean, what if I lose my sense of self?”

“I know you, Lois, and that will never happen. I do think the two of you are doing the right thing by focusing on your studies right now. I love my grand-daughter, but having a child complicates your life in so many ways. When you have a young child in the house, you have little energy for everything else. Don’t feel guilty for wanting to get your own life settled before inviting someone else into it.”

Kally whimpered and Martha looked down at her. The little girl was making a face which indicated to Lois she was feeling uncomfortable - a sure sign she had messed her diaper. “Looks like somebody needs her diaper changed.”

“I’ll do that,” Lois said.

The older woman shook her head. “I don’t mind, sweetie. I never got that chance with Clark.” She picked up the diaper bag. “I’ll be back in a couple of minutes,” she added, taking Kally out the back of the shop.

Lois sat and finished her second cup of coffee. She saw Lana sitting at a table. Jason had obviously left as the brunette was alone. As Lois watched, she began rummaging in her purse for something, pulling out a cloth-wrapped bundle. The cloth appeared to be Chinese silk. Lana unwrapped the silk, revealing something that looked metallic in appearance. Lois got a glimpse of some kind of symbol etched on the surface.

She hadn’t been able to see much but enough that she thought it could look like one of the symbols Clark had shown her from the drawing.

Lois quickly turned her head as Lana looked up to see if anyone was watching. She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Clark, telling him to meet her at the inn in half an hour.

She began to gather her things as Martha returned with Kally.

“I have to get going,” she said. “Bubsy will be wanting the groceries.”

“Now don’t forget. You and your dad are invited for dinner next Saturday.”

She smiled. “I won’t.” She kissed the older woman on the cheek as she took her daughter in her arms. “Thanks Martha.”

Clark was waiting for her in the reception area of the inn when she finished putting away the groceries. She beckoned for him to follow her outside.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I think Lana has the stone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it looks like Clark and Lois keep going back and forth where their relationship is concerned, but I think it's a sign that they both still have a lot of growing up to do before they can cross that line between friendship and romance. Just because you have strong feelings for someone doesn't mean you have the maturity to act on it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark faces a dilemma

Bubsy was folding the laundry, only half-listening as Lois sat in the parlour, talking with General Lane. Her father was playing with Kally, enjoying a rare afternoon off.

“Daddy, how did you know Mom was the one?”

“Well, now you’re asking a hard one,” the General replied.

“I’m serious, Daddy.”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because I think Clark …” Bubsy could hear the amusement in the man’s voice.

“Honey, are you just now figuring that out? Even his parents knew the moment they saw you two together.”

“So why do I keep hesitating? I mean, I know we have a child together, but we’re not … I mean, we haven’t done anything.”

“Sweetheart, it’s good that you’re questioning it.”

“It is? Why?”

“Lo, you’re almost nineteen. Clark’s eighteen. You’re both far too young to get into a committed relationship. You have college ahead of you.”

“Yeah, I mean, I get it. That’s kind of what I’ve been thinking.”

“There is nothing wrong with you two spending time together as long as you are both clear on what you want. I know it’s hard. When your mom and I first got together, it was difficult staying apart. But we knew we weren’t emotionally mature enough for an intimate relationship.”

“The thing is, when I’m with him, I feel like I can be myself. But I also feel like a better person when he’s around. Does that make sense?”

“It makes perfect sense, sweetheart. Look, don’t worry about all the little details. You two will work it out eventually. You just need to give yourselves some time. By the way,” he added after a slight pause. “If you and Clark want to go out on a date, you just need to say so and I’ll babysit my grand-daughter.”

Lois laughed. “Oh Daddy, I do love you.”

“Right back at you, kid. Your mom would be so proud of you, you know. I made my mistakes with you girls and if I had to do it all over again, knowing what I know now, I’d spend more time with you.”

“But then you wouldn’t be you, Dad,” Lois said sweetly.

Kally started grizzling. “Sounds like somebody needs a n-a-p,” the General said.

“I’ll go put her down.”

Bubsy heard Lois getting up and presumably taking her daughter out to the cabin. She looked up as Sam came in to pour himself a coffee. He appeared relaxed and more at ease with himself than he had the first time she’d met him.

“Kids, huh?” he said, smiling at her.

“Lois is a sweet girl.”

He sighed. “She is. Things could have gone a completely different way if I hadn’t woken up to myself.”

“We all make mistakes, Sam,” Bubsy said gently.

“I’m still so grateful to you for what you’ve done for her this past year. Her finding you was the best thing that could have happened to her.”

“I just gave her a place to stay. The rest was up to her.”

“I think you’re being too modest, Annie. You were a Godsend to her when she needed it most.”

“And look at her now. She’s getting her diploma, about to go to college.”

“I just wish I hadn’t been such an ass to her. I could have lost her forever.”

“But you didn’t, Sam,” she reminded him gently. “You got her back.”

He turned to look toward the back of the inn where Lois was talking on the phone. Bubsy guessed she was either talking to Clark or to her cousin.

“What do you think of Clark?” he asked.

“I think he’s a fine young man. Yes, they made a mistake two years ago, but even I can see they have a very special bond.” Sam put down his coffee as she picked up a sheet to help her fold it. “I do think they’re not ready to jump into an intimate relationship but I think we need to trust them.”

He smiled. “You’re right. You’re a very wise woman Annie Harrington.”

She returned the smile. “It’s wisdom that comes with experience.”

“How is it a lovely woman such as yourself has never married?” he asked.

She was flattered by the compliment but tried not to let it go to her head. Obviously Lois hadn’t told her father what she’d shared with her friend and she was grateful for that.

“I fell in love with someone when I was just about Lois’ age. And yes, I did make a terrible mistake. I had to give up my child and the man I loved married someone else.”

Sam’s expression was sympathetic as he looked at her. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” He paused. “I don’t know if Lois told you, but my wife, Ella, died when Lois was six. Cancer.”

She nodded sympathetically. “She mentioned it. You must have loved her very much.”

“She was the love of my life,” he said, sighing. “That’s why I could never picture myself with anyone else all those years. Perhaps that’s why I buried myself in work rather than be a good father to my girls. So I could forget the pain of losing her.”

“I don’t think you were a bad father, Sam. Lois is a wonderful, sweet, compassionate young woman. If you had been a bad father, she wouldn’t be who she is.”

“I wish I could take all the credit,” he said.

Lois came back in and her father joined her once more in the parlour. The two sat chatting for the rest of the afternoon.

Clark had been trying to figure out how he was going to talk to Lana about the stone. He knew he couldn’t just steal it. Since the day Lois had spotted the stone in her possession, Lana had put it somewhere else instead of keeping it in her purse.

He had asked himself many times how Lana could have got it. If Lois was right about the partial symbol she had seen, it was definitely the one from China. Yet Lana hadn’t gone to China.

He could only assume Jason had given it to her somehow. Then again, if what Lois had overheard about the couple was true, why would he give it to her? It didn’t make sense.

He’d recalled every conversation they’d had that year. There weren’t many. Ever since he’d decided dating Lana was a road he did not want to take again and a dead-end street, he hadn’t had much to do with her. There was just too much drama, too much angst. Lana must have sensed his feelings had changed or there had been something else going on. She’d been a little off.

He didn’t want to discuss the problem with his parents. He and Lois had decided together not to talk about the project with them, knowing how upset they would be on the whole Jor-El issue. After everything that had happened last time Jor-El had tried to get him to leave the farm, it was rather a sore subject.

As if that wasn’t enough, he had a few problems to deal with, from sudden amnesia to a graduate wanting school to go on forever so he didn’t have to think about how bleak his future looked, kidnapping several students in the process.

Clark took Lois and Kally out to dinner the night before graduation. Her father had offered to babysit but Clark didn’t mind taking their daughter with them. She was far better behaved than some of the kids he’d seen, eating chicken nuggets quite happily.

Lois had listened while he told her what had been going on.

“Wow!” she said. “I mean, I knew it was a weird town and everything, but … seriously?”

“I know. I don’t know if it’s the meteor rock that makes them crazy, but …”

“Have you ever actually met anybody who didn’t go crazy from being exposed?”

He nodded. He told her about the blind lady who could see the future and how, when Lana had been accidentally exposed, she was somehow telepathically linked with a cop who had kidnapped Chloe.

Lois leaned protectively toward their daughter. “And this stuff can hurt you? Or Kally?”

“Well, we don’t know about Kally yet,” he said. “We won’t know until Jor-El sees her. Well, you know what I mean.”

She nodded. “What about Lex? After what happened with that black stuff, doesn’t it seem more likely that he knows about you? At least subconsciously? I mean, you’re not exactly subtle. Especially when you do your head tilt thing.”

“Head tilt thing?”

“Yeah, when you’re listening. You need to work on your tells. Anyway, the point is, Lex deep down knows something, even if he doesn’t know what he knows.”

Clark thought about that. Lex had somehow been split in two. His darker self had committed murder and tried to get Clark to join him in his quest for power. He’d used a ring with a gemstone made of green Kryptonite, basically telling his ‘friend’ that he would hurt him or his family unless they joined forces. That memory was obviously part of Lex somewhere, even though the bald man, once his two selves had been reunited, had claimed he remembered nothing of the incident.

“I don’t know what we can do about that,” he said. “Right now, we’ve got more pressing matters. If Lex has one of the stones, he’ll be looking for the others. If he finds out Lana has it, she’ll be in danger.”

His friend looked thoughtful. “That’s if she even knows what she has. Then again, the way she’s been acting lately, like she’s worried about something, I think she at least has an inkling.”

They finished dinner and headed back to the inn to put Kally to bed. Lois came out of the cabin so they could talk without disturbing her.

“Seriously, Clark, you need to talk to Lana,” she said, taking up the conversation where they’d left off. “You can’t keep backpedalling.”

“I’m not backpedalling,” he said. “I just don’t know what to say to her.”

“Well, think of something. Before things get a whole lot worse.”

He sighed. “You’re right.” He’d been procrastinating too long.

“Just remember that there is more than you at stake here. We need to protect Kally. If Lex has figured out she’s your daughter …”

That was another thing that had come out of Lex’s brush with black K. He’d implied that if Clark didn’t do what he wanted he was going to set his sights on Lois and use Kally. Clark knew he’d wasted too much time already.

He left the inn and headed to the Talon, figuring he’d know what to say once he got there. The coffee shop was still open, but there weren’t that many customers. The two girls working at the counter didn’t even look up from their paperwork as he passed them to head up the stairs to Lana’s apartment.

He heard a series of loud crashes and bangs from inside the apartment. They would have been loud enough to have been heard downstairs, if it hadn’t been for the loud music playing in the shop. Wondering if Lana was in trouble, he x-rayed through the door. Lana was fighting with someone. He couldn’t tell who as it appeared a lamp had been broken in the struggle.

Clark opened the door and ran in using super speed, hitting the woman throttling Lana. She flew across the room, crashing against the wall, knocked unconscious. Lana was barely conscious herself.

There was just enough light from a lamp on the other side of the room so Clark could see the crystal on the floor. It had obviously fallen in the struggle. Glancing at the brunette, who was too busy coughing and spluttering, he grabbed the crystal. It felt warm in his hand. For a moment it appeared to glow softly before dying down. He thrust it in his pocket and went to help Lana sit up.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “I heard you fighting with someone.”

Her voice was hoarse as she spoke. She leaned on him for support.

“I’m okay, I guess.”

“You should get checked out,” he told her, seeing the bruise on her throat.

She nodded, looking over toward the fallen body of the older woman. She was still unconscious.

“Who is she?” Clark asked.

“Jason’s mother.”

“What was she doing here?"

Lana hesitated, looking around for something. She frowned. Clark guessed she was looking for the crystal.

“I don’t know,” she replied finally.

There was the sound of a startled gasp and Clark looked up, frowning at the dishevelled appearance of Lex in the doorway.

“What are you doing here?” Lex accused.

“I came to talk to Lana about something and I heard the fighting. When I got in here, Lana was on the floor and she was already unconscious,” he said, nodding his head to the fallen woman.

He helped Lana to her feet.

“I must have blacked out,” Lana said, still hoarse as she slowly explained what had happened. “I don’t remember pushing her off.” She tried for a weak smile. “Maybe those self defence lessons of yours last year finally paid off.”

Lex offered an equally weak smile. Clark wondered if he would actually buy Lana’s explanation. The man’s eyes were wily as he looked around, as if he was mentally analysing the situation. He noticed there was a gun lying on the floor near Jason’s mother. It was clear the woman had come with the intention of if not just threatening Lana, trying to kill her.

“We should call the sheriff,” Clark said, while Lex offered to take Lana to the hospital to get checked out.

“I’d rather stay.”

“You need to get that bruise looked at,” Lex told her gently. Too gentle for someone who could be so arrogant. It made Clark wonder if the man had deeper feelings for the brunette than he would admit to. “She could have crushed your windpipe.”

“I’ll stay and wait for the sheriff,” Clark offered. He didn’t confirm to Lana what he’d seen, thinking she would assume he had thrown the woman off.

“Thanks Clark,” Lex said. He grasped Lana’s arm. “Come on, Lana. I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Clark called the sheriff once they’d left, making sure Mrs Teague wasn’t going anywhere. He sent a text to Lois telling her what had happened while he waited. She replied soon after expressing her shock and hoping Lana was okay.

The woman was just coming around as the sheriff turned up. Clark told Nancy Adams what had happened. Mrs Teague tried denying it but her denials were ignored. The woman glared at him as she was led away in handcuffs, threatening all manner of reprisals, legal or otherwise. Clark snorted in disgust as she claimed she was rich enough that no one could touch her. The look she shot him was pure venom.

As soon as they left, Clark sped to the caves, taking the crystal from his pocket. He stood at the edge of the stone tablet, eyeing the space where he’d placed one of the crystals last summer, when he’d been Kal-El. He carefully placed the new crystal. Once the new one was in its place, the two crystals let up. A bright light emanated from the remaining space, beaming upwards toward the roof of the cavern.

A loud ringing pierced the silence, a similar sound to one he’d heard just a few months before when he’d realised the incarcerated Lionel had one of the stones. He let the sound wash over him, closing his eyes for a moment as he focused, locating the source.

Clark sped off, heading toward the guesthouse of the mansion. He remembered the cottage from the first year he’d known Lex when the housekeeper and her family had lived there. Lionel had taken up residence there not long after he’d been released from prison.

Lex, in one of his better moments, had confessed to Clark that he was sure the Teagues had somehow been involved in his father’s conviction being overturned. Considering the two families were rivals after the same thing, it didn’t surprise Clark in the least. Lex was always trying to do ‘backroom deals’ with those he considered business rivals. Why should the two senior members be any different?

Fortunately, Lionel wasn’t in the guesthouse, but he found the crystal locked in a cupboard. Clark had learned some subtlety from Lois and picked the lock instead of just smashing it. He quickly retrieved the crystal and returned to the caves.

Taking a deep breath, he reunited the crystals, watching as they formed what appeared to be a large diamond-shaped crystal. Grasping the newly formed crystal, Clark found himself transported to a wilderness of white.

For a few moments, he stared, disoriented. He had no idea where he was. He looked around him, trying to identify some kind of landmark. All he could see was a huge white expanse.

It stood to reason he was in the polar region. It was still light so he had to be in the northern hemisphere, he decided. If he was in the southern hemisphere, it would probably be dark, since it was winter.

The crystal thrummed in his hand and he let it go, watching as it hovered above him. Some instinct told him to throw it. Almost as if it was guided by some unknown force, it sailed several hundred yards through the air, then dropped like a stone to the surface.

There was a rumble and a tremor shook the ground beneath him. Clark dropped to a crouch, placing his hand on the snow, feeling the vibrations beneath him. Another sound reverberated around him, bouncing off the distant glaciers. He stood up again, watching as crystals began to form to resemble some kind of structure.

Wanting to know more, he began walking toward it, awed by the sheer size of the construction. It had to be at least forty feet, maybe even higher, he thought.

The sunlight reflecting through the crystals gave them an almost eerie glow as he stepped through what appeared to be the entrance and down into the chamber. A bank of crystals stood in the middle of the chamber and he moved toward it, uncertain of what he was supposed to do next. A long piece of the crystal, glowing with almost a white light, lifted up of its own accord and he reached out to grasp it.

“Welcome, my son.”

“What is this place?” he asked, disconcerted by the echo.

“It is a replica of our home planet. Krypton. It is where you and I will begin our journey together.”

“Journey?”

“I sent you to Earth for a purpose, Kal-El. Only with training can you become Earth’s greatest saviour.”

“I understand that, Jor-El, but there are things I need to do in Smallville. I graduate high school tomorrow. And there’s my daughter. Kally.”

“Yes, there were forces at work determined to use the knowledge contained within this fortress for themselves. You have prevented that, Kal-El. However, the danger has not passed. You must bring the child to me where I can determine whether she will be like you, or more like her human mother.”

“Will you teach me, or her mother, how to keep her safe?”

“I will, my son. Do what you must to settle your affairs and return to me.”

“Thank you, Father.”

Lois left Kally in the care of Bubsy to drive to the farm the morning of Clark’s graduation. Martha greeted her warmly and told her Clark was in the barn getting ready.

As she climbed the steps to the loft, she could see he was nervous. He kept trying to knot his tie but he kept untying it and grumbling.

“Let me,” she said, taking the tie from him and putting it around her own neck to tie it. “I’ve done this lots of times for my dad.”

“I don’t know why I’m so nervous,” he said. “It’s just graduation.”

She shrugged. “I guess maybe because it’s shutting the door on one phase of your life and opening the door to another.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he said. She took the tie off and handed it to him. He appeared distracted.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“You know how Lana got hurt last night? The crystal was on the floor of the apartment. I stole it.”

“You stole it?” she asked incredulously. Even knowing what was at stake, she was surprised he would do something that could be considered underhanded. 

“I had to. If Mrs Teague had got hold of it, or Lex …”

She frowned. “What does Lex have to do with it?”

She listened as he told her everything that had happened and how he’d found the other crystal.

“So, this training … How long?”

“I don’t know. Jor-El didn’t say.”

“Months? Years?”

“I really don’t know. Right now, all I can think of is getting him to see Kally.”

“He’s not going to do anything, uh, like … probing, is he? You know. Like on X-Files?”

Clark sent her an odd look. “What?”

“Well, you know, like some alien probe where he …” She didn’t want to finish the thought. The image that popped into her head was too horrible to even contemplate. Especially where her baby daughter was concerned. No way was she going to let some alien entity poke holes in her little girl, she thought fiercely.

“If you’re that worried, then come with us. Jor-El told me how to use the portal in the caves.”

“That’s great and all, Smallville, but …”

He looked at her. “This is the only way we’re going to be able to figure out where we stand with her,” he said gently. “We have to know how to protect her.”

“You’re right,” she said, sighing. She eyed him critically. When he’d buttoned his shirt, he’d missed one buttonhole, so she corrected that. The colour of the shirt brought out the blue in his eyes.

“You know, you actually look handsome for a change, Smallville.”

“Thanks,” he returned with biting sarcasm. “As opposed to the train wreck I usually look like?” he added.

“Well, yeah, when you’re running around town like a mouse on speed.” She grinned and punched his shoulder.

He grunted and she rolled her eyes. “Don’t even pretend that hurt,” she told him.

They started down the stairs together, only to be confronted by what appeared to be a very angry and very hurt Jason Teague.

“Where is it?” he growled.

Lois frowned. The man’s shirt was torn and bloody and he had a bad cut above his brow.

“Where is what?” Clark asked.

“The stone! I want the stone!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Clark told him. “You need medical attention Jason.”

“I know you’re at the centre of it all, Kent. All the strange occurrences, the saves … I know you had to have something to do with it.”

“You’re delusional, Jason,” Clark said. “You need help.”

Lois glanced at her friend, wondering what he was planning. She started to edge away, but Jason turned on her.

“Don’t move, bitch!” He moved toward her as if to try and attack her.

“Don’t call her a bitch!” Clark shouted. Lois wondered if he’d used a touch of super speed as the other man was knocked off his feet, but her friend hadn’t seemed to have moved at all. She knew from what he’d explained that he could move fast enough that most people wouldn’t be aware of it unless he told them what he’d done. 

Jason lay on his back, staring up at the sky. Clark turned to her.

“Go inside and call the sheriff,” he said. “I’ve got this.”

She nodded and ran to the house. Martha intercepted her.

“I’ve already called the sheriff,” she said, making it clear she’d seen what had happened.

By the time the sheriff came and took Jason away, it was less than thirty minutes to the graduation ceremony. Clark’s parents told him to run to the school so he could get ready and they would meet him there. Lois went with them in Martha’s car.

She watched as the names were called out and the students crossed the stage. Clark stood tall and proud as he accepted his diploma and Lois whistled and clapped to congratulate him. Lana’s name was called next and she moved slowly across the stage. She had a livid bruise on her neck but seemed otherwise okay. She turned to look at someone in the audience and Lois realised Lex Luthor had come to watch. He had an oddly proud look on his face.

For someone who only claimed to be a friend, he seemed a little proprietary, Lois thought.

A few more names were called out and then it was Chloe’s turn. Lois again whistled and clapped for her cousin, grinning broadly as she watched her uncle, Chloe’s father, also whooping loudly.

She found Chloe a short time later and hugged her.

“Congratulations, cuz,” she said.

“Right back at you,” Chloe replied, laughing. Lois had got her own diploma in the mail a couple of days earlier. As much as she had wanted a proper graduation ceremony, it hadn't been possible. Yet, to her delight, Clark and Chloe had mocked one up for her. They'd even invited the General to the 'ceremony'.

Chloe turned and looked at Clark, who had joined them.

“So, some of us are heading to the Talon for the graduation party. Are you guys coming?”

“Thanks, Chloe, but we’ve got something else to do,” Clark said.

Lois nodded. “We wish we could, but …”

Her cousin looked a little put-out, pouting. “I get it. You’ve got your own private celebration planned.”

“It’s not like that,” Clark told her. “We just wanted to do something with Kally.”

The blonde turned away, obviously a little miffed. Lois wanted to apologise to her cousin, or at least try to explain what was really going on, but knew it would be far too complicated.

Clark gently pulled her way and guided her toward his parents.

“We should go get Kally and take her to the fortress,” he said.

“Um, don’t you think you should tell your parents what’s going on?” she asked. “I mean, they’re going to find out eventually. Don’t you think it should be sooner than later?”

Clark sighed. Lois knew he thought they wouldn’t be happy at knowing what they’d done and what they planned to do, but she figured they would be even more unhappy at being kept out of the loop.

“Okay. You’re right. We’ll tell them on the way.”

Unhappy was an understatement, she thought as Jonathan drove them back to the farm.

“Why would you have anything to do with Jor-El?” he asked. “Are you forgetting he forced you away from the farm two years ago?”

“He might have tried, but I ran away, Dad. And this is not about me. It’s about Kally. He’s probably the only one who can help us protect her. If we’re right, Lex is still investigating me. What happens if he finds out the truth about Kally?”

“Honey, we know you want to protect your daughter, but don’t you think you should have discussed this with us first?” Martha asked.

“What is there to discuss?” he said stubbornly. “I know how you feel about Jor-El and if I’d told you what I was going to do, you’d have tried to stop me. There was no other way to do this, don’t you see that? It’s not like we can take Kally to the nearest hospital and ask them to examine her. What are we supposed to say? We think there’s something unusual about her and we want to know if it’s going to get worse? The hospital would call the nearest government lab and we’d never see her again.”

Lois remembered when Martha had told her she had a similar fear for Clark when they’d first realised just how special he was. She could tell the older woman was thinking the same thing.

“Jonathan, Clark has a point. If Jor-El can help keep our grand-daughter safe, then we need to trust him.”

Jonathan still looked uneasy, but he nodded. “All right. But as soon as you’ve found out, you come straight back here.”

Lois knew it wasn’t going to be that easy. Jor-El had informed Clark he needed to begin training to be Earth’s Greatest Saviour. As pretentious as that sounded.

Clark took the truck and followed Lois back to the inn so they could pick Kally up. Bubsy hugged Clark and congratulated him on his graduation before handing over the toddler. She smiled at Lois.

“Now you go and have a good time with your dad,” she said. She’d given Lois the whole weekend off so she could take Kally to visit her father at the base. Her sister Lucy had resurfaced as well, after having got into some trouble while at boarding school and was now living with their father.

“I will,” she promised.

An hour or so later she found herself inside what Clark called his Fortress of Solitude. She had bundled up in a thick jacket and gloves. Kally was similarly outfitted.

Clark picked up a crystal and inserted it into what she supposed would be the control centre of the fortress.

“Jor-El?” he called.

“I am here, my son. You have returned as promised.”

“I have. Jor-El, I would like you to meet Lois Lane, the mother of my child.” He took Kally gently from her arms. “And my daughter. Kally.”

“Greetings, Lois Lane. With your permission, I should like to examine your child.”

“You’re not going to, um, hurt her, are you?” Lois asked anxiously.

“I assure you, Kally will not be harmed. Please place her on the bed.”

A light shone from somewhere above, illuminating a large flat bed of crystal. Clark laid the toddler on the bed. Kally began crying, reaching for her father. He shushed her, assuring her it would be okay. Lois doubted she understood what was happening.

Clark stood back as lights danced over her. Kally began giggling as if she was being tickled, reaching for the lights. Lois felt Clark’s arm around her waist, providing reassurance as they watched their daughter being examined by the Kryptonian technology.

After what seemed like an age, the examination ended.

“Your daughter is very healthy, Lois Lane. Her genetic structure is indeed half of one parent and half of the other. It is difficult to determine at this stage exactly what powers she may have.”

“So, you’re saying she will have powers?” Clark asked.

“She will, but not until she is almost fully grown. For now, she may heal at a more accelerated rate than a normal human child, but that is the extent of her abilities from what I can determine. She will continue to develop as a human child but will appear a little more advanced than those her own age. However, I do not believe it will be so far advanced as to cause concern. You have nothing to fear, Kal-El.”

“What if she gets hurt?” Lois asked, not sure what to do if her daughter should ever need medical attention.

“You must take care to ensure she is examined only by someone you trust. Her blood will show what human doctors may see as anomalies. I do not anticipate any serious illness requiring medical attention. She most likely will have immunity to all communicable diseases on Earth.”

“But you don’t know that for sure,” Lois said, catching the slight doubt in his statement. Jor-El didn’t reply.

She turned to Clark. “So, what happens now?”

Clark bit his lip. “I made a promise, Lois. I’m not coming back with you to Smallville.”

“How long?” she asked.

“I told you, I don’t know.” He kissed Kally’s cheek, then hugged her. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said. “Will you please explain to my parents?”

She knew they wouldn’t understand but there was no other way.

“Jor-El?” she called.

“I am here, Miss Lane.”

“Promise me you will look after him.”

“I assure you, Kal-El will not be harmed.”

“Promise!” she repeated.

There was complete silence for a few moments. Then Jor-El spoke again.

“You have my promise, Miss Lane.”

Lois kissed Clark on the cheek, fighting tears. “Take care of yourself,” she said.

He handed her the disc. She stood at the console, disc in hand. Clark stood watching as she slowly inserted the disc. Her heart broke as Kally reached out.

“Daddy!” she said, clear as day.

Then the beam enveloped them both and she was back in the caves. Lois sobbed, holding her daughter close as Kally cried. “Daddy!” she said again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois misses Clark as he trains with Jor-El

Lois drove back to the farm, doing her best to get her emotions under control. Kally was still crying, obviously not understanding what had happened and wanting her daddy. Lois had no idea how to explain to a thirteen-month-old why her daddy hadn’t come with them. Half-Kryptonian or not, she thought. Her daughter’s brain just wasn’t developed well enough to understand that concept.

She turned the truck into the gateway of the Kent Farm, grabbing a tissue to wipe her eyes. She probably looked a mess. She’d worn make-up to go to Clark’s graduation and it had probably run by now.

Clark’s parents were working outside when she pulled up in the gravel driveway. Jonathan frowned as he looked over and saw her driving instead of Clark. She got out and went around to pick up her daughter, doing her best to comfort her still sniffling child.

“Where’s Clark?” Jonathan asked.

She bit her lip. “Um, I think we need to talk.”

He nodded. “Let’s go inside.”

Martha followed them into the house. Jonathan made them all coffees while Martha held out her arms for her grand-daughter. Kally whimpered, but let her grandmother take her.

“There, what’s all the crying about, sweet girl?” she crooned. She grabbed a wet wipe from the counter and began wiping the toddler’s wet cheeks.

Lois sighed as she sat down beside the blond farmer. Martha continued to comfort the toddler until she fell asleep in her grandmother’s arms.

“What happened?” Jonathan asked.

Lois related it all as best she could. The couple looked concerned when told Clark had stayed at the fortress.

“You mean, he just agreed …” Martha said. “For how long?”

“I don’t know. Jor-El wouldn’t tell us. He did say that Kally probably won’t get her powers until she’s a lot older. Maybe when she starts to hit puberty.”

“Well, I suppose that’s better than nothing,” Jonathan replied. “But why did Clark stay?”

“I don’t think he had much of a choice,” Lois told the couple. “He said Jor-El was pretty insistent.”

They nodded. She could tell they’d seen just how upset she was but had chosen not to say anything.

“What are we going to tell people?” Martha asked her husband.

“We’ll just have to tell them that Clark’s gone to visit his grandparents in Coast City,” Jonathan replied. Lois wondered why he looked so glum.

“What’s so bad about that?” she asked.

Martha sighed softly. “My father and Jonathan had a few … differences. They never really patched things up. We considered telling my parents about Clark, but when he was young he wasn’t always careful about not using his abilities. We couldn’t be sure, given the way my father felt about my marriage, that he would be understanding.”

“Clark did try to get us to patch things up a few years ago,” Jonathan told her. He looked at Martha. “We could say that his grandmother had an accident and he went to help out for a few weeks.”

Lois nodded. That sounded logical. The only problem was, what were they going to do when those few weeks were up and Clark still wasn’t home?

She missed him. It had only been an hour but she missed him. His laugh, his smile, the way his ‘fangs’ dug in the corners of his mouth when he was smiling.

She knew now why it had been so hard for her parents, knowing her father’s work often took him away from his family. Maybe they weren’t quite ‘family’ but she felt closer to Clark than she had ever felt with anyone. She had no doubt in her mind that they would be together as a couple one day, but even then she knew she would have to share him with the world.

Clark stood in a chamber of light, surrounded by it, his brain bombarded with symbols and phrases of the Kryptonian language. He had already learnt so much about his home planet’s history. How environmental damage had caused the Kryptonian council to order crystal domes to be erected for the people to live, away from the radiation poisoning the soil.

He’d learnt why the pieces of his planet were so poisonous to him and caused such a response in humans. The radiation was like a cancer, mutating the cells until it eventually took over all the healthy cells in the body. Because it had been created under a red sun, when exposed to the yellow sun, or the star Sol, which gave him his powers and increased his metabolism, it increased the speed of the mutation in a Kryptonian. Some humans, their immune system already compromised by sickness or injury, would also be affected.

That was why, he was told, that the humans hurt in the meteor shower had changed. That was why Jodie, who had used Kryptonite-laced vegetables in a power shake, had experienced a sudden surge in her metabolism. Her digestive system had already been compromised.

That was why Tina, who had been born with soft-bone disease, had suddenly been able to shape shift following experiments using Kryptonite-laced drugs.

The meteor rock might have changed their lives for the better, but in many it had left them mentally unstable, Clark was told. He realised Lex was among them. He knew Lex had a problem with anger. Just as he knew from the story Chloe had told him about Lex's breakdown after his brother died. He figured there were other incidents in his life where he’d demonstrated emotional instability.

Eventually, Jor-El moved on to teaching him about the Kryptonians’ war with Black Zero and its role in the planet’s eventual destruction. Clark was shocked to learn that his uncle, Zor-El, had been working with the leader of the Kryptonian army, a man by the name of Dru-Zod, to not only strip the planet of many of its natural resources, but also to attempt to take over the Kryptonian Council in a failed coup.

Zod would later be sent to prison for his crimes, in a place Jor-El called the Phantom Zone, an inter-dimensional prison.

Clark was warned Zod had cried vengeance on Jor-El, his onetime friend. He saw many parallels in his father’s friendship with the general and his own friendship with Lex. He wondered if Lex would eventually betray him too.

He had no idea how much time was passing. Locked in the chamber, he had no way of knowing whether it was day or night. His mind was constantly bombarded so he had no time to think about those he had left behind.

Lois leaned into the back of the car and undid the harness on her daughter’s car seat, picking her up. She shut the car door, making sure it was securely locked.

“Nice car,” a voice commented.

She turned and looked for the speaker, frowning at the bald man standing beside a black Porsche.  
“Is it new?” Lex continued.

“Well, new to me,” she said. “My dad bought it for me to celebrate my acceptance into college.”

The bald billionaire raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Which college?”

“CKU,” she said.

“Isn’t that the same one Clark was accepted to?” he asked.

She almost snorted. It was no surprise he would immediately link it to Clark. It had been over a month since Clark had taken her to the fortress and there was still no word from him. Lex had already asked Martha a few times when his friend was returning from Coast City.

Why did she get the impression Lex knew Clark wasn’t really in Coast City? Then again, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that he would check up on their story.

“Yes it is,” she said.

“Have you heard from him lately?” the bald man said, peering interestedly at her. Lois shifted the toddler in her arms.

“He calls when he can. They’re just keeping him busy,” she said. “Excuse me. It’s getting hot out here and Kally’s kind of heavy.”

“Oh, forgive me. Of course,” he said, as if it had only just occurred to him how hot it was. The temperature had soared to almost a hundred degrees and coupled with carrying a twenty pound toddler in her arms.

He preceded her to the door of the Talon and opened the door for her.

“Why don’t I buy you a drink to make up for it?”

Lois bit her lip. She didn’t like the man. She probably wouldn’t have liked him even if she hadn’t known about Clark. There was just something about him that made her skin crawl. However, she didn’t want to be rude either.

“All right. An iced mocha would be nice.”

He leaned forward and smiled at Kally. “And what about you, missy? What would you like?”

Lois wanted to smack him. She had been called ‘missy’ a few times when she was younger by someone her father had worked with and he had been extremely condescending. Lex’s tone was almost the same.

“Juice will be fine for Kally,” she said.

She looked around and saw Lucy and Chloe waiting at a table for her.

“Excuse me,” she added. “I see my sister and Chloe waiting for me.”

Lex nodded. “I hear your sister is quite the virtuoso.”

“She does all right,” Lois told him, hefting the little girl in her arms again, hoping he would get the hint.

He turned away to head to the counter, leaving her to go and sit with the other girls.

“What was that all about?” Chloe asked.

“I think he was fishing,” she said. She sat Kally in a chair, giving her a toy from her bag to keep her occupied.

Lucy scowled. “He seems kind of creepy to me.”

Lois nodded in agreement, remaining quiet while Lex approached with the drinks.

“One iced mocha for you and one juice for this young lady.”

She looked at her daughter as Kally reached eagerly for the juice. “What do you say, Kally?” The toddler uttered a reasonably close approximation of thank you.

Lex grinned. “I’ll take that as a ‘thank you’. It’s good to see you’re teaching her manners.”

Lois laughed, making it just sufficiently genuine to let him think she found it amusing when she really wanted to punch him for his condescending attitude.

“Well, with Bubsy around, not to mention the General, she has to learn to mind her manners.”

The bald man nodded. “Nothing like military discipline,” he said.

What would you know? she asked silently.

“So, girls’ day out?” he asked casually.

“Yes it is, actually,” Chloe said coolly. Lex raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and walked off. Lois stared at her cousin.

“You know, I don’t like the guy, but that was rude. Didn’t he pay for your safehouse last summer?”

“Yeah, but he’s still too nosy for my liking. Did he ask you about Clark?”

She nodded, sipping the mocha. She’d wanted to refuse the drink but knew it would just pique his curiosity even more if she had.

“So, where is Clark?” Lucy asked.

She glanced at her sister. They’d had a difficult relationship for years. When their mother had died, the General had told Lois she was now part of the ‘chain of command’. If he gave her an order, she was to carry it out. That also meant anything that involved Lucy, she would have to pass it down the chain. As in any military command, if Lucy did something that went against orders, or required discipline, Lois was not only also punished for it, she was meant to pass down that punishment.

Lucy had once accused her of trying to be their mother and Lois hadn’t been able to explain it all in a way her two years younger sister would understand. Lucy had also resented being sent away to boarding school instead of staying with them, never knowing that Lois hadn’t exactly got the better end of the deal. In many ways, Lois had resented the fact that her sister got the private school education, as it had implied that the General thought Lucy was smarter than Lois.

A few months earlier, Lucy had got herself involved with a man running a loan sharking operation in Switzerland. She’d tried to con Lois into bailing her out, but, with Clark’s help, Lois had discovered the truth and told her father, not wanting to do anything to spoil the good relationship they had. Lucy had tried to run away but the General had sent someone after her. They’d caught up with her in Germany just as summer began and she’d been told she had to shape up or face jail.

“I told you, he’s staying with his grandparents in Coast City.”

Chloe looked dubious. It was the same expression she’d had a month earlier when Lois had told her Clark had left already. Especially since they’d informed her they’d made plans that didn’t include her.

They sat at the table for the afternoon, chatting. Lucy wanted to head out to Crater Lake the next day, but Lois couldn’t go with her sister. Bubsy had basically given her a promotion so she could receive wages as well as tips. The money still wasn’t a lot, but it was enough for her to save a little for her college expenses. At least, she thought, I don’t have to worry about child care expenses. There were plenty of people willing to babysit.

As Chloe and Lucy went back up to the counter to replenish their drinks, she saw Lana talking with Lex. He’d apparently been going over the accounts with Martha in the back of the shop and had run into Lana. The dark-haired girl didn’t look happy at the way the bald man placed a proprietorial hand on her arm.

The pair ended their conversation and Lex walked out. Lana spotted Lois at the table and came over.

“Hi,” she said. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

Lois frowned at her. “What about?”

She looked around the shop. Chloe and Lucy were coming back with their drinks.

“Now’s not a good time. Why don’t you come upstairs before you have to go home?”

Confused, Lois just nodded. “All right. I have to go to work soon anyway, so I’ll come up in a bit.” The other girl nodded and smiled in greeting at Chloe.

“Hey, Lana,” the blonde said. “Everything okay?”

“It’s fine,” she replied. “I was just thinking, we haven’t done anything in ages. Feel like a movie night? You could come too, Lois. And you, Lucy,” she added. “If you want to.”

“Well, my day off is Saturday.”

Lana beamed but her grin looked a little forced. She’d clearly only just thought of the idea. “Great! How does this Saturday sound?”

The other girls nodded their agreement. “Sounds good to me,” Chloe replied.

“Me too,” Lucy put in.

The brunette again smiled, shooting Lois a quick glance before turning to head up the stairs to her apartment.

Lois chatted a little while longer before her cousin and Lucy decided to leave. She waited until they were gone, still wondering why Lana had asked to see her, thinking that whatever the other girl had to say was something that was between them. Kally had fallen asleep so she carried her up the stairs, careful not to disturb her.

Lana greeted her at the door. “Why don’t you put Kally down on the couch while we talk,” she said.

“Is everything okay?” Lois asked, putting her daughter down. Kally whimpered in her sleep but didn’t wake.

The other girl bit her lip. “You didn’t tell Chloe about this, did you?”

“No. Why? What is this about, Lana?”

“Clark,” she said simply. “I didn’t think you’d want your cousin or your sister to hear what we talk about.”

“Lana …”

“I need to know, Lois. Where is Clark?”

She hesitated, then repeated the same story slowly. The brunette shook her head.

“No. I remember how badly things went with his grandfather a couple of years ago. He was devastated. His grandfather wouldn’t suddenly forget all about that just to have Clark go and help them out for a couple of months.”

Lois had known the story wouldn’t really stack up. Not if someone looked at the facts very carefully. She wondered if that was why Chloe questioned it so much.

“So where is he? Really?”

She huffed. “The truth is, I don’t really know. What I mean is, I don’t know where he is.” That was the truth as far as she was concerned. It wasn’t like she’d been able to see the location of the fortress on the map.

“You don’t know when he’ll be back either, do you?” Lana said.

“No. I don’t.”

The other girl sighed. “Yeah, I figured that was the case. Look, um, you know Clark and I have a history.”

“Yes, I know you dated. Before you say anything, Clark and I aren’t dating either.”

“But I see the way he looks at you. The same way you look at him. I’m not blind, Lois. I’m not so completely self-centred either that I can’t see what’s been going on. I know Kally is his daughter. She looks almost exactly like him. It wasn’t so obvious when she was a baby, but it’s really obvious now.”

Lois looked down and sighed softly.

“Please, Lois. Don’t lie to me.”

“Okay, you’re right. He’s Kally’s father. We decided not to tell anyone other than his parents. My dad knows. So do Chloe and Lucy. And my boss. But they’re all sworn to secrecy.”

“You know, Lex thinks he knows,” the other girl warned. “He’s been asking me an awful lot of questions about what I think might have happened when Clark ran away. He’s done the maths. You did meet in Metropolis, didn’t you?”

She stared at the other girl. The brunette had obviously been thinking long and hard about the situation and had begun to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. It still didn’t tell Lois what was really going on.

“Why do you need to know all this, Lana?”

“Maybe in some small way I’m trying to do the right thing by Clark. And you. I guess I’m trying to protect you both.”

“Why? What’s in it for you?”

She wondered if Lana was still in love with Clark, even though he’d assured her that ship had sailed a long time ago. He was adamant he no longer had feelings for the girl he’d been infatuated with since he’d been six years old, but that didn’t mean Lana’s feelings had changed.

She huffed when Lois asked about her feelings. “It’s not about that. I know I lost Clark a long time ago.” She looked away for a moment, but Lois thought she saw tears in the other girl’s eyes. “Do you know, I think I had an inkling he’d fallen out of love with me when I found him in Metropolis. He was so … harsh. Almost cruel.”

“Lana, that wasn’t Clark. I mean, it was, but it … wasn’t. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“You mean because that was Kal? I heard the waitress call him that.”

“It’s not just … He was different in Metropolis.”

“I know. Anyway, when he came back it was like he no longer saw me as the girl he’d loved since first grade. Then when I met you and Kally, I knew I’d lost him for sure. I mean, I know I was with Jason, but I think I only stayed with him because I thought it would hurt Clark. Even though I knew Jason was just manipulating me.”

“Lana …”

Lois saw a tear slip from the other girl’s brown eyes. It was odd. They were similar in a lot of ways. They’d both lost family – her with her mother and Lana having lost both her parents when she was young. They both had dark hair and brown eyes, although hers were more hazel than the other girl’s. Where Lana was petite and fine-boned, she was taller and more athletic.

Somehow though, Lois sensed that Lana didn’t really know who she was. She wasn’t as self-assured as she tried to pretend she was. Three months in Paris last summer hadn’t given her emotional maturity. In many ways, she was still trying to be the girl-next-door; trying to fit an ideal of what she thought others wanted.

Lois had always been independent. Becoming a mother at seventeen had made her almost more so. She wondered if Lana would have changed if she’d had a similar experience. She highly doubted it. The other girl had basically had almost anything she wanted handed to her, while Lois had had to fight for it.

It wasn’t that the General had denied her things. He’d just never believed in mollycoddling his daughters They’d never actually been a demonstrative family. Had her mother still been alive, she was sure that things would have been much different.

“He’s always been yours. I’m not mad at you, Lois. I just thought you should know that I still care about him, even though he chose somebody else.”

Lois was still confused about what Lana was trying to achieve from this conversation.

“The thing is, Lex has been coming around a lot. I think he somehow might have feelings for me.”

Lois nodded. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Lana. Almost like he wants to own you.”

“I know. See, I’m not that oblivious. I think Lex knows about you and Clark and figures he’ll be there to pick up the pieces for me.”

“Lana, I’m not sure what you want from us. I mean, Clark and I aren’t together like that.”

“Not yet, no,” the girl said softly, almost resignedly. “But you will. It’s kind of inevitable. Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. I needed to warn you that Lex is still investigating Clark. I think he knows Clark isn’t in Coast City or anywhere near his grandparents.”

“Why would you want to warn me about Lex?” Lois asked.

“Because I owe it to Clark. I know he saved my life the night Mrs Teague tried to kill me. And I’m pretty sure he stole the stone. I don’t care about that. I always had a feeling it was somehow connected to him, especially when I saw the same symbol in the caves. I know he’s different, Lois, and I think you do too.”

“Lana …”

“I realised that night that he’s been saving me for years and I never thanked him.”

Clark’s training had moved on to more physical aspects. Jor-El had instructed him using holograms so he could undertake physical trials. The training was arduous and he was exhausted at the end of each trial.

In this latest one, he stood atop the Statue of Liberty. It looked so real it felt almost as if he were really there as he looked down on the city of New York. He swallowed. Even though he knew it was all an illusion, his mind was fooled into believing he could feel the wind rushing past him, whistling in his ears. That he could hear the faint sounds of traffic in the streets.

“You must focus, Kal-El.”

The voice of his birth father was firm, reminding him that he needed to learn to fly. It was the one power he had not fully mastered.

He swallowed again, hearing the pounding of his heart.

“What if I fall?” he asked.

The illusion faded. “You do not trust yourself. That is why you fail this trial.”

He had always had a fear of heights. Jor-El had suggested that perhaps it had something to do with the way his ship had plunged to Earth. Because he’d been a baby, only a few weeks old by Earth standards when he’d been sent away from Krypton, Jor-El hadn’t been able to place him in suspended animation. Clark had been fully awake when the ship had come down. While he didn’t consciously remember that happening, his subconscious probably did.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of trust, Jor-El.”

“Father,” the disembodied voice reminded him.

As much as he wanted to, Clark had found it difficult relating to the avatar of his long-dead birth father. He’d wondered aloud if the problem was that he couldn’t see Jor-El, only hear him. The artificial intelligence that contained all the knowledge of the Kryptonian scientist was little more than an interactive recording. It was too abstract. Clark needed something tangible.

Jor-El decided it was time to move on.

“What do you know of Earth’s history?” he asked.

“I guess it’s similar to Krypton. There are always wars going on.”

“Do you know why there are these wars?”

“I guess. I mean, America’s at war with Afghanistan.”

“Why?”

“Because of what happened in New York.”

“Tell me.”

Clark told his birth father about the terrorist attack on the twin towers and the three thousand odd people who had died. He went on to explain about the war with the Taliban and the Jihadist movement.

“These are facts, but I do not believe you understand why these wars continue,” Jor-El told him. “You cannot help humans if you first do not understand their ways. It is said that people fear what they do not understand. You may appear as one of them, Kal-El, but you are not.”

“I don’t get it.”

Jor-El explained that once Clark began saving people, their responses would be mixed. They might not trust what they saw. Clark realised Jor-El was right when he remembered how Lex had investigated him throughout their friendship. He hadn’t trusted what had happened and wanted to know more, instead of just believing that miracles could happen.

He remembered what Lois had said when he’d told her about the accident on the bridge. She’d been right when she’d told him he hadn’t done himself any favours by ripping off the roof of the car. If other people reacted the same way Lex had …

“You will be viewed with suspicion.”

“I don’t know how to get around that.”

“You must learn. However, that is something I cannot teach.”

Clark was confused. “How am I supposed to learn that then?” The answer should have been obvious.

“By living as one of them, Kal-El. You were raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent. Guided by them. Now you must venture into the world and learn more about the humans you live amongst so you may discover where your strength and your powers are needed.”

As Jor-El went on, Clark realised his birth father was telling him he needed to further his education. To question what he saw and heard so that he could delve deeper into people’s motivations. He finally understood that it would not simply be a matter of him arriving on the scene and saving people.

He couldn’t just reveal himself to the world. Not in the current climate of intense paranoia. He was reminded of a movie he’d seen on television where one of the characters had commented that one person was smart, but people as a whole were dangerous animals. Faced with the strange things he could do, he knew there was no way they would accept him at face value.

The only way to get acceptance was by degrees. One save here, another there, without them knowing or seeing, until he decided the time was right.

Kally was staying for the day with her grandparents while Lois had to complete her registration at Central Kansas and get her textbooks. She had balked at the prices, knowing on her wages she wouldn’t be able to afford everything but thankfully her father had set up a credit account for her on the proviso that it was only for course materials.

Bless him, she thought as she drove back to the farm, the newly purchased textbooks in a bag on the seat beside her. He was definitely making up for all the years he’d felt he’d never been there for her.

He’d done a lot for her over the summer. He’d taken her and Kally out almost every Saturday, knowing she was feeling a little lonely with Clark gone. Thankfully the General had stopped asking questions about Clark after she’d got upset. He’d wondered if they’d had a little tiff and that was why she hadn’t heard from him and Lois couldn’t correct him. The truth was, she worried about Clark. Wondered what he was doing in that icy fortress. Whether he even thought of her while he was gone.

She stopped the car on the gravel driveway and got out, preparing to head toward the house to pick up her daughter. She heard Kally’s childish giggles coming from the barn. Wondering if the toddler was playing with her grandfather, she turned to go to the barn to investigate.

As she stepped through the doorway, her heart stopped for a moment. For there was Clark, holding Kally up in the air, pretending to fly her. It was their game.

Kally must have spotted her. “Mommy!” she said gleefully in her baby way. “Look at me!” At least, that was what Lois assumed she was saying.

Clark dropped his arms, letting his daughter gently down. Kally pouted, but went to play with the dog the family had adopted a few months earlier.

Lois stood looking at him, unable to believe what she was seeing.

“I’m home,” he said simply.

She ran into his arms, not caring what it looked like.

“God, I missed you!” she cried.

Without thinking, she reached up, pulling his head down a little and took his lips with hers. Clark responded, kissing her hungrily. They clung to each other as if their lives depended on it.

“I love you, Lois,” he said. “I missed you so much. I know it was only three months, but it felt like a lifetime.”

She nodded, unsurprised to discover she was crying. “I know, Smallville. It felt that way for me too. Promise me you’re never going to go away like that again.”

He looked at her, his top teeth biting down on his lip. “I can’t make a promise like that,” he said. “If I had a choice, I would never leave you again, but …”

“I know,” she cried. “I’m just being stupid.”

He shook his head. “No, you’re not. It’s not stupid, Lois.”

They sat down on one of the hay bales. It was prickly, but Lois didn’t care.

“What was it like?” she asked.

“A lot of the time I was in this chamber, learning everything about Krypton’s history and how it got destroyed. At first, there wasn’t time for me to miss everyone. There was just so much to learn. Then Jor-El began teaching me about my powers. Showing me how to control my abilities. Things that I can one day pass on to our children.”

Children? She knew he was as much as saying he saw them together in the future.

She’d had a dream while he was gone. They were older, sitting on the swing on the porch of the farmhouse, watching children playing in the yard. Nothing had really happened in the dream. It had just been the two of them, sitting closely together, rings on their wedding fingers. It was peaceful.

Clark began telling her about some trials he’d had to go through. They had been simulations, but had still felt so real.

“I was standing on the top of the Statue of Liberty and I could see the whole of New York city. I was supposed to drop so I could fly, but I couldn’t. Jor-El said it was because I didn’t trust myself. It wasn’t that. I was thinking about you in that moment. How much I missed you. How much I wanted to be with you.” He turned to face her, taking her hand. “I know we’re still young, Lois. We have four years of college ahead of us, but I know there’s no one else I want to be with.” He paused. “I have something for you. It’s sort of a promise.”

“What is it?” she asked.

A slight breeze blew and she knew he’d moved at super speed. His position had changed slightly and he was holding a small tissue-wrapped package in his hand.

“I was given this a couple of years ago. I was told that one day I would be able to give it to the ‘true one’ in my life. That person is you, Lois Lane. You are the one. You always will be.”

She watched as he slowly unwrapped the tissue to show her a beautiful silver bracelet with a diamond-shaped turquoise stone set in the centre. It looked Native American.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

“It was made by the Kawatche people,” he said.

“You mean, the caves?”

She’d explored the caves a couple of times, careful not to disturb anything. She’d also seen the photographs Clark had kept in his trunk of the pictographs and had seen one of a girl wearing a similar bracelet.

Luckily, she had never run into Lex although she knew Luthorcorp was the conservator for the caves. She’d been curious after Lana had mentioned what she’d seen down there and how she knew of Clark’s connection to the stones.

“Yes,” Clark replied. “Will you wear it, Lois?”

Shelby barked and Kally giggled, distracting her for a moment. She looked over at her daughter but the toddler was happily playing some kind of game with the golden retriever. She looked back at Clark.

“Yes,” she said. “I will.”

He beamed happily, opening the clasp on the bracelet and placing it gently around her wrist. The metal immediately felt warm against her skin, making her wonder if there was some kind of magical property attached to it so that it knew it belonged to her.

Kally chose that moment to get bored with playing and ran to her father.

“Daddy!” she said, begging to be picked up.

Clark obliged, holding her close. Lois laid a hand on her daughter’s shoulder, the other on Clark’s thigh.

They still had so much to talk about but for now, all she wanted to do was be with the man she loved and the daughter she adored.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark and Lois have their first day of school.

Clark was running late Monday morning. He’d overslept, which wasn’t really all that unusual, since during the time he’d spent training in the fortress he hadn’t really slept much. He’d gone to school on the Friday before to register for his classes, only to find most of his electives were already full. Of course, he couldn’t exactly explain why he hadn’t registered at the beginning of the summer, like most people had.

He had to drop off some baked goods at the Talon before heading off to school as his parents were already working. As he turned away after handing the tray to the girl on the counter, he ran into Lex.

“Clark,” the man said with a smile. “I heard you were back.”

Clark shrugged. “Small town,” he replied, smiling back at the man.

Lois had told him about her conversation with Lana and the fact Lex had been asking far too many questions. His parents had also told him the story they’d told around town to try to avoid those questions. They hadn’t known that he’d been emailing his grandfather for a couple of years and while the old man was still prickly, he had managed to build up a relationship of sorts.

He was sure if his grandparents had been asked, they would have helped in case anyone asked about him. He knew Lex would have more than likely checked his parents’ story.

“So, how is your grandmother?” Lex asked, walking with him out to the car.

“A lot better. Thanks for asking.”

“It was good of you to go and help your grandparents for the summer.” The bald man peered at him, as if he was hoping the scrutiny would uncover the lie. Thank goodness Jor-El had taught him a few lessons on how to lie believably. Clark had never been comfortable with lying and it had been patently obvious in the past. “You were missed around here.”

“Yeah, I know. Lois told me people kept asking after me. Still, it’s family. You do what you gotta do.”

“Speaking of Lois,” Lex said before Clark could leave. “Is it true you’re dating? What about Lana?” When they’d first met, the bald man had taken an interest in Clark’s love life, or lack thereof, telling him to go after Lana and even engineering a couple of incidents so the girl would ditch her then-boyfriend and go out with Clark. While it appeared he was still trying to matchmake, Clark wondered if his questions had more to do with his own interest in Lana.

“We only just decided to start dating,” he told the other man. “Lana and I decided a long time ago to be just friends.”

“Just friends?” The bald billionaire raised an eyebrow. “This is the girl you’ve had a crush on since you were six-years-old!”

Clark shrugged again. “Well, what can I say? It was just a crush. You know, sometimes you just need to know when to bow out of an unhealthy relationship,” he added, looking meaningfully at the other man. Lex, of course, had had plenty of experience in unhealthy relationships. Especially the one-night stands.

His ‘friend’ looked coolly at him. “I suppose you’re right. Well, good for you.”

He could practically see the wheels turning in the other man’s head. He wondered if the other man was now thinking Lana was a free agent. As much as he wanted to tell his friend to steer clear of the man, he knew she had to work that out for herself. Since she’d told Lois what she had figured out about his months away, he realised she was probably well aware of what Lex was trying to do and was only placating him so she could protect his secret.

“Well, I have to get going,” he said. “I’m already late for my first class. Not the best first impression.”

Lex nodded. “You’re right. Come by the mansion later. You can tell me all about your summer in Coast City.”

“Sure. My last class is at two and I have a couple of things to do at home, so I can come by after that.”

The other man smiled. “Great. I’ll tell the staff to expect you. I have a meeting scheduled at two-thirty but I should be done by the time you get there.”

Clark drove to campus but he was still a few minutes late when he got to class. He knew if he’d run he would have made it in plenty of time but his parents and even Lois had been adamant that he not use his abilities unless they were for emergency situations. Jor-El had also told him he needed to maintain the pretence that he was normal.

He opened the door to the lecture theatre and quickly located a seat up the back. The professor of his world history class had already begun the introductory lecture, explaining the structure of the semester. Just as Clark went to sit down, he heard the woman speak a little louder.

“While I don’t call a roll, after all we are not in kindergarten, I do expect everyone to attend lectures and to be on time and the young man who just snuck in, pray tell, what life or death emergency caused you to be late to my lecture?”

Clark felt himself turning red as everyone in the theatre turned to look at him. Lois was sitting in the next row down and she shot him a look.

“Uh, I’m sorry, professor,” he said. “I … uh, overslept.” He decided not to go into any more detail about having to make the delivery for his mom and being stopped by Lex.

“I see. Sit down, young man.”

She turned away and continued on with the lecture. All attention was on the attractive blonde who would be teaching them through the semester. She was aged in her early forties, from what Clark had read, but she looked at least ten years younger.

She spoke for a few more minutes giving an overview of the semester before moving to the first topic. Clark sat enthralled. She was clearly highly intelligent and explained things in a way that reminded him of some of the stories Lex used to tell him about historical figures. Many a time Clark had managed to get good information for his high school history papers thanks to Lex’s knowledge.

He was so interested in what she was saying that he was surprised when the lecture ended. The students began to pack up their notebooks and file out of the theatre. Clark packed up his own books and was about to join Lois at the door when the professor spoke.

“Stay back a minute,” she said.

He glanced at Lois and she shrugged, mouthing that she would meet him at the campus diner. He turned back to the professor, who had come up the steps to stand beside him.

She smiled at him. “I do hope you’re not going to be late to all my lectures,” she said.

“I’ll do my best,” he replied. “That was a really interesting lecture, Professor.”

She nodded. “I admit my passion for the subject gets away on me at times but I like it when my students become engaged with the material. However, I expect my students to use good time-management skills.”

“I’m usually up early,” he said. “I live on a farm.”

“Yes, I know. Clark Kent. You’re planning on majoring in journalism?”

He stared at her, surprised. She grinned. “I make it a point to know all my students, especially the ones I think will do well in my course. Your SAT scores were excellent, Mr Kent, which tells me that if you apply yourself you can maintain a high GPA. I must warn you, I don’t tolerate laziness in my students.”

She said it in a friendly manner, but Clark took the warning seriously.

“It won’t happen again, Professor Abbott.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear it.”

Clark left the theatre and crossed campus to the diner. Lois was waiting at the table with a coffee and a maple donut. As long as he’d known her, she always seemed to order the same pastry. He got his own coffee and sat down opposite her.

“So, what was that?”

“She just wanted to talk to me about being late to class,” he said.

“Smallville’s in trouble,” she replied in a singsong voice.

“Shut up, I am not.”

“Was she gonna spank you?” Lois teased.

“No, but I know someone who’s going to get spanked if she’s not careful.”

“Ooh, kinky,” she replied with a grin.

He chuckled. “You are trouble, Lois Lane.”

“You’re just now figuring that out?” she asked, laughing. “Where have you been?”

Lois glanced at her phone as it gave a quiet beep. It was sitting on the table beside her. She laughed as she saw the message and turned it around so Clark could see. Kally was sitting on her grandfather’s lap making a funny face at the camera. Clark’s dad was making the same face.

“Your dad the comedian, huh?” she said.

“Like your dad is any better,” he returned. Sam loved babysitting his granddaughter and they’d often go to pick her up only to find the General on the floor surrounded by toys and having a great time.

“Who’d have thought my dad could turn out to be such a big softy,” Lois replied.

Clark grinned and laid one hand on hers. She smiled coyly and sipped her coffee.

“When’s your next class?” she asked.

“Not for another half hour,” he said. “Maths.” He’d decided to take statistical mathematics to fulfil his science requirement. “When’s your psychology class?”

“It’s at noon. I’ve got errands Bubsy wants me to run.”

While Lois was technically still a maid, her boss often asked her to help out with other duties, like running errands or going to pick up guests from the train station. She would repay Lois for her help with a bonus in her paycheck.

As they left the diner and began walking around, exploring the campus, he found himself thinking about the things they’d talked about the day he’d returned home. She hadn’t actually said the words, but he’d known from the way she’d thrown her arms around him and kissed him that she loved him.

They’d been going back and forth for months trying to figure out their feelings and he had decided when he returned from the fortress that he wasn’t going to do that anymore. He loved her and he didn’t want to waste another day pretending they could just be friends for now.

They hadn’t talked about what they were going to do for their first actual date. Clark wanted to take her somewhere special, but they were both on strict budgets. He knew Lois loved monster trucks, and although it wasn’t really something that interested him, he figured he could at least go along to one for her.

He’d already done a little research and knew there was a show that Saturday night in Metropolis.

“So, I was thinking. There’s a monster truck show on Saturday. Do you want to go?”

Her eyes lit up. “Are you kidding, Smallville? I’d love to go! What about Kally?”

“Your dad won’t mind babysitting. He did say he would if we wanted to go out.”

“So, this is a date?”

He didn’t want to debate his answer. Lois had often told him that there were times when his failure to be more direct frustrated her, but she’d also told him he needed to not say everything he needed to say in one fell swoop. While it sounded like a contradiction, he knew what she meant.

“Yes, this is a date. I don’t want to waste another moment with you. I mean, I’m not saying we should move in together or anything. We’ve got four years of college ahead of us and …”

Lois grabbed his arm and pulled her to him. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

“Smallville, you talk too much.”

He grinned and kissed her hard. Their bags dropped to the ground as they kissed passionately. Students on the concourse whistled and a few of them made lewd comments but he didn’t care.

As they broke apart, he heard what sounded like someone needing help. He looked at Lois. She immediately understood.

“Where?” she asked, quickly gathering their belongings and walking with him to a secluded spot where he could slip away unnoticed.

“Not far. I’ll be back,” he added, speeding away.

A girl had been jogging in the wooded area bordering the campus when a man had tried to drag her off into the trees, bent on attacking her. Clark ran to the spot and saw her struggling with the man in attempts to get him off her. He ran between them, shoving the attacker away with one hand. The man was tossed a few feet, luckily avoiding the trees and lay on the ground, winded.

Clark paused long enough to make sure the girl was okay. Her shirt was torn and she had a couple of abrasions but otherwise she was unhurt.

He returned to where Lois was waiting.

“What happened?” she asked.

“A girl was attacked on the path,” he said. He listened for a brief moment. “She’s calling campus police.”

“Hmm, I wonder if there’s a story in it. Girls being attacked on campus.”

“Probably. We missed the club orientation but we could still go talk to the campus newspaper.”

“I don’t know. I’m still not sure I want to major in journalism.”

He shrugged. “You don’t have to decide on your major the first year. You’ve got time to think about what you want to do.”

“You and Chloe did,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, but Chloe’s wanted to work at the Daily Planet most of her life whereas I figured it was where I could be in the middle of the action, so to speak. I mean, I couldn’t exactly be a cop if I want to keep my identity secret.”

“That’s true. Oh well, like you said. I’ve got time.”

Clark looked at his watch. It was almost time for his next class. He still had to find the lecture theatre.

“I should get to class,” he said. “See you later?”

She nodded, kissing his cheek. “I’m picking Kally up at three.”

“I told Lex I’d go over to the mansion after my last class, but I’ll be home before I go.”

Lois frowned. “Why are you going over there?”

He sighed. “I figured at least keep up the pretence a little while longer.”

His friendship with Lex had been on the outs for a while. Right before last summer, he’d had a fight with the other man over the room where he’d kept files on Clark and his family. What he saw as evidence of Clark’s abilities. They’d eventually patched things up with Lex telling him he had got rid of everything and was no longer investigating them, Clark remained guarded.

When he’d related everything to Lois about what he saw as Lex’s bad decisions, he conceded he might have been more than a little judgemental, but then again, the man had slept with several women in a series of one-night stands and had been performing dangerous experiments involving meteor rock.

The problem with Lex, he’d told his girlfriend, was that the man never considered the consequences of his actions. Clark knew it sounded hypocritical, especially since, as Kal, he’d slept with Lois and didn’t consider what might come from his own actions, but he’d at least taken responsibility for his mistakes. Lex still tried to blame everyone else for his own errors in judgement.

Clark had figured that he should at least try to keep Lex on side for now, so he could protect his family. Keeping up the friendship would allow him to keep a close watch on the other man’s activities so he might have some warning if the bald man did anything to threaten Lois or his daughter.

He left campus later that afternoon and drove home. Kally was in the kitchen with her grandmother, watching her bake cookies. She looked up, her whole face lighting up when she saw him.

“Daddy!” she said gleefully, holding out her arms for him.

He picked her up and hugged her, taking in the aroma of sugar and spices and that sweet baby scent.

“Hello munchkin. Have you been good for Grandma?”

She nodded her head, moving it up and down in an exaggerated movement. She was yet to learn she didn’t need to do that.

“We’ve been baking all afternoon, haven’t we darling?” his mother said.

“Cookies!”

“Cookies, huh? And how much cookie dough did you eat?”

Kally shook her head. “Nope!”

“Right,” he said. He put her down on the floor. “Go get your stuff, squirt. Mommy will be here to pick you up any minute.” She toddled off happily

“How was school, honey?” his mother asked.

“It was fine.”

He heard the squeak of the screen door and Lois came in, greeted by her daughter with a squeal.

“Mommy!”

“Hi, baby. You got your jacket? Good girl!” Lois grinned at Clark’s mother. “Hi, Martha. Was she good today?”

“She was on her best behaviour. Although she missed you.”

Lois picked up the toddler. “I missed you too, baby,” she said.

“How was your first day of classes?”

“It was great,” Lois said with a smirk. “Clark got in trouble with the history professor.”

“I did not!” he said in protest.

“Did too,” she responded. She looked at the older woman. “He was late to class and she called him out.”

“I overslept,” he replied. “And then I ran into Lex at the Talon. You know, I would have made it early if somebody had let me use my powers.”

“You know better than that, Clark Kent!” Lois replied. “No using your abilities unless it’s for emergencies. Like what happened this morning.”

His mother frowned at him. “What about this morning? You didn’t get in trouble, did you?”

“No, Mom. A girl was attacked on campus. And before you ask, I just winded the guy. She didn’t see me.”

“I went by the Gazette office after you went to class,” Lois told him. “That wasn’t the first attack. It was just the first time the campus police had someone for it.”

Clark frowned at her. When they’d talked earlier, it seemed like she hadn’t made a decision about pursuing journalism but he guessed the attack had bothered her. He wasn’t surprised. She wasn’t one to let injustice go.

“You didn’t …”

“I just told them I saw campus police dragging a guy off. Anyway, the guy in the office said he needs a couple more reporters, so I signed us both up. And I got us the story.”

Clark snickered. “You don’t waste any time, do you?”

She shrugged. “Well, I figured what the hey.” She looked at her phone. “Anyway, I’ve got to get back to the inn. We’ve got a couple of late check-outs and Bubsy wanted me to clean the rooms before the new check-ins arrive.”

It was rather ironic that Lois had got a job as a maid, considering Sam Lane had told Clark and his parents that she had always been messy at home. That had mostly changed when she’d had Kally, of course.

Clark hadn’t been able to resist teasing her over it when he’d found out.

Lois shifted the toddler in her arms. “Say ‘bye to Daddy and Grandma, sweetie. We’ve got to get going.”

Clark gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek and a quick hug, letting his mother do the same.

“’Bye bye Daddy, ‘bye bye Grandma,” she said.

He followed them out and watched as Lois also said goodbye to his father before putting Kally in the car. He continued watching until she turned onto the highway.

He went back inside to find his mother smiling.

“What?” he said.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t go getting any ideas, Mom. We haven’t even gone on our first date yet.”

“Sue me for wanting to see you happy. And from what I can see, Lois makes you happy. Speaking of first dates, do you have a plan?”

He nodded. “I’m taking her to Monster Trucks in the city on Saturday. We’re gonna ask the General to babysit. That’s okay, isn’t it? I mean, you and Dad still have to work and I can’t …”

“Clark, I don’t mind babysitting a few hours a week. Goodness knows, you do the work of about a dozen farmhands around here. Besides, she’s a joy to look after. You and Lois seem to be doing all the right things with her.”

He was pleased by the praise but knew it wouldn’t always be this easy. He’d read enough about child-raising to know that it could be much worse. Kally hadn’t hit the ‘terrible twos’ yet. He was glad, however, that she wouldn’t get any of his abilities until she was an adolescent. God only knew what she would be capable of.

He went to the refrigerator and poured a glass of orange juice.

“What was it like when I was a kid? When I first came to live with you?”

She looked at him. The timer on the oven dinged and she picked up the mitt to get the tray. Clark shook his head and took the tray out of the oven for her, putting it on the counter.

“Mom?”

“It wasn’t easy, at first,” she admitted. “You didn’t know any English and it was hard to get you to understand us. I gave you a bath as soon as I got you home and you put your hand under the hot faucet. I thought you would scald yourself so I shouted at you. I think you were more frightened than hurt as you screamed.”

She bit her lip. “After a few weeks it started to get easier but you got so frustrated because you couldn’t understand what we were talking about. You would have temper tantrums where you’d stamp your feet, or punch the walls. We were so afraid you’d bring the house down on top of us.”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” he said.

She shook her head. “No. You have nothing to be sorry for. As I said, you were frustrated and you didn’t know how to control your strength yet.”

“How long did it take before I learned to speak English?”

“Not long at all, really. You were so young and I think when you are that young, it’s easy to pick up another language.”

“I guess I babbled a lot. Like Kally.”

“Mmm, but she’s learning so fast. Don’t worry too much about what it says in those books, sweetie. You and Lois will learn how to deal with it if and when the time comes. Just remember that she needs you both to back each other up on decisions and to be firm.”

He smiled and kissed her cheek before grabbing a still-warm cookie.

“Thanks Mom. I’m heading over to Lex’s for a couple of hours but I’ll be back before dark.”

“All right, honey. Don’t forget the produce order,” she reminded him.

He drove over to the mansion with the produce, handing it over to the housekeeper before walking through the house to the library.

As he was about to enter, he heard Lex discussing something about Leviathan. He made a note to check up on that later.

The bald man smiled, shutting the lid on the laptop and getting up.

“Clark. You’re just in time. I just finished my meeting.”

“Great.” He started to walk over to the pool table. “How about a game?”

“Not right now. I thought we should catch up. You spent the whole summer away in Coast City.” Lex frowned at him. “Not even a phone call?” He tried to look offended.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that. My grandparents kept me busy. I think Grandad was trying to convince me to study to be a lawyer like him.”

“Heaven forbid,” Lex returned. He gestured toward the leather couch. No sooner had Clark sat down when the maid came in with soda for Clark and a tray of snacks. He turned, watching as his friend poured himself some scotch from the wet bar.

The other man sat opposite him in the chair.

“Did you ever want to do something else?” Clark asked. “I mean, instead of going into business with your dad?”

“Apart from rule the world?” Lex replied sardonically.

“I’m serious.”

“So am I. Serious as a heart attack.”

“Lex …” Clark sighed.

He’d always known the other man was ambitious. He’d once proclaimed he wanted to like his idol, Alexander the Great, who had become ruler of Macedonia before the age of thirty. Lex had wanted to go one better.

The other man huffed, sipping his scotch. “When I was younger and more naïve, I thought I could change the world through science. That dream came to an end when I was expelled from Met U.”

Clark wanted to ask him why he’d been expelled from the university but he knew the other man would never tell him. He was tempted to investigate the incident anyway but doubted he would find it in the university records. Lionel had deep pockets and thought the exchange of money could make anything go away.

He knew the other man had done drugs before. He’d often done things designed to anger his father in a bid to get him to pay attention to him. The only thing the elder Luthor had ever said to his son was to not get caught. Since Lionel had done much worse, including murder, it was hardly surprising that he would choose to ignore Lex’s behaviour.  
It wouldn’t have been a total surprise if Lex had been caught manufacturing drugs on campus and that was why the Met U dean had expelled him.

“I ran into Lois in the Talon a few times while you were away,” Lex said. “Her daughter’s grown a bit over the summer. How old is she now?”

“Her first birthday was in April.”

“I have to admit, I’m a little concerned at you getting involved with a girl like her. I mean, let’s face it, raising a child on your own isn’t easy. It’s a lot of pressure to put on a potential partner.”

Clark frowned at him, wondering what the other man was getting at.

“What are you trying to say, Lex? That Lois and I shouldn’t date just because she has a child? It doesn’t make her a bad person. People make mistakes.”

“I’m just a little surprised, is all. I wouldn’t think she’d be your type.”

“There’s a lot more to Lois than you think,” he replied. “I feel like I can be myself around her. I didn’t feel that with Lana.”

“I see,” the other man said coolly.

Clark decided to change the subject, asking Lex about the company and what was going on with his father. Lionel had been conspicuous by his absence lately, which suggested he was planning something himself.

Lois had finished cleaning the two rooms and had gone downstairs to see if there was anything else her friend needed her to do. Bubsy was in the dining room, giving Kally her dinner.

“All done?” the older woman asked, smiling brightly.

“All done. Is there anything else you need me to do right now?”

“No, not that I can think of,” she said, then frowned. “Oh, wait. I did get a late reservation this morning. The young man said he would be here by now but perhaps he’s running late.”

Kally banged her spoon on the tray of the high-chair, either trying to get attention from her surrogate grandmother or wanting more food. Lois grabbed the spoon from her daughter, who protested.

“No, you don’t,” she said. “No banging spoons on the table. And don’t poke your tongue out at me, young lady,” she added as Kally proceeded to do just that.

The bell at the front desk rang. Bubsy turned her head to look out to the reception area.

“I’ll go,” Lois offered, since her boss was still trying to get her daughter to eat her dinner.

She had done a couple of check-ins before when Bubsy had been otherwise busy and the woman who was employed to cover reception during the day had finished her shift. She went out and stared at the young man with a garish orange sleeveless t-shirt and green pants that appeared to be swim trunks. The colours clashed. The clothing also looked a little damp as if he had been out swimming. Crater Lake was a good five miles from the inn, but there were only two places in town visitors could stay short-term. The inn or the motel on the highway near the Wild Coyote bar. The guest before her didn’t look like the type who would enjoy staying in a rough part of town.

The man was probably only a year or so older than Clark. He was good-looking, with short blond hair and a cheesy grin. Still nowhere near as good-looking as her boyfriend, she thought.

He looked her up and down as she came out, his expression suggesting he liked what he saw. Other men had done the same thing to her, especially some of her father’s officers on base and normally Lois would have told them to take a hike and stop treating her like a piece of meat before reminding them who their ranking officer was. She couldn’t really do that with guests of the inn.

“Well, hey there. If I’d known the owner of this place was so gorgeous, I would have got here sooner.”

Lois snickered. “Charming,” she replied. “I’m not the owner. I work here. And I have a boyfriend,” she added, touching the bracelet on her wrist.

The man’s gaze was drawn to the movement. She didn’t explain the bracelet and he didn’t ask.

“Well, I hope your boyfriend knows how lucky he is,” the man replied. “I’m A.C. Arthur, actually, but everyone calls me A.C.”

Lois checked the book and saw the reservation for an Arthur Curry. The inn was usually quite full this time of year but he’d managed to get the last room available.

She completed the check-in procedure and told him there were brochures available of different activities around town.

“Oh, I’m not here for sightseeing,” he said, waving his hand.

Lois nodded before turning to grab the key off the hook. “Well, you’re in room ten. Upstairs, third floor and it’s the fourth door on your right.”

“Thanks, beautiful,” he said, taking the key and heading up the stairs.

Shaking her head and chuckling, Lois returned to the dining room. Bubsy smiled at her.

“Thank you, darling. You know, I really don’t pay you enough for what you do around here.”

She didn’t answer that. Bubsy paid what she thought was fair and let her live there for free, even providing meals. She was also treated more like family than an employee. It was an even trade as far as she was concerned.

“So, how was school, sweetheart?”

“It was great. I had world history first thing. Clark was late to class.” She began telling her boss about her day as Bubsy finished feeding Kally. A few guests came in for the buffet dinner, stopping by the table to compliment the older woman and play with the toddler a little bit. Like she did with everyone else in town, the little girl somehow managed to charm the visitors.

Lois finished her own dinner before taking her daughter out to the cabin to put her to bed. She took the monitor with her and sat near reception to do her homework while she waited for the night manager to come in. It wasn’t normally part of her duties, but the manager often had trouble getting in on time. Lizzie had three children and her partner sometimes had to stay late at the office, which would then cause a delay in her getting to work.

She completed her shift at eleven and went out to the cabin, checking on her daughter. Kally was sleeping soundly, her arm curled around the teddy bear her father had given her. Lois stroked her cheek and pulled the blanket up a little. She sat up in bed for a while, reading her textbook. It was dry and had her falling asleep within a short time.

Next morning she was eating her breakfast between trying to feed her daughter when A.C. wandered in to grab his own breakfast.

“Good morning,” he said brightly.

“Good morning,” she replied. She saw him eyeing the backpack on the table beside her. “I have class this morning,” she told him.

“You go to college and work here?”

She nodded. “My boss lets me work around my class schedule.”

“Oh.” He smiled at Kally, who tried to turn on the charm. “Is she yours?”

“Yup. Her name’s Kally. Kally, say hi to Mr Curry.”

“A.C.,” he corrected.

She smiled. “A.C. then. So, what brings you to Smallville, A.C.?”

“Oh, this and that,” he said.

She looked him up and down. He was wearing the same orange and green outfit from the day before.

“Well, just a suggestion. You might want to rethink your wardrobe if you’re going to stay in town a while.”

He looked down at his clothes. “What’s wrong with my wardrobe?”

“It looks like Flipper threw up,” she told him.

He just laughed. “I tell you what. I let you teach me about what not to wear and I’ll take you swimming out at Crater Lake.”

She kept her tone even as she looked at him, trying not to glare. The man was obviously a flirt.

“Number one, don’t flirt with me. I have a boyfriend. Two, I have class, a job, and a daughter. I don’t have time to go swimming and even if I did, I would go with my boyfriend.”

Kally looked up and exclaimed in delight. “Daddy!”

“Speaking of whom,” Lois continued, smiling up at Clark, who had just come in. “Hi.”

He bent and kissed her cheek. “Hi yourself. I thought since we both have classes starting at the same time, we could go together.” He looked at A.C. “I’m Clark.”

“A.C.,” the other man replied. “Your girlfriend was just giving me the lowdown on Smallville.”

“Nice,” he said. His tone was friendly but his expression made it clear he was marking his territory. Lois nudged him and shook her head slightly. He wandered over to the breakfast buffet to help himself to some fruit.

“So, that’s your boyfriend, huh?” A.C. observed. “Nice guy.” He said it in such as way that she knew he was being sarcastic.

“He’s actually really sweet,” she told him.

The man didn’t look like he believed her. Clark came back and sat down at the table beside her, turning his attention to Kally. A.C. began talking about Crater Lake, asking Clark whether he’d been down there lately.

They’d spent part of Sunday at the lake just hanging out with Lana and Chloe. Lois didn’t know why, but Chloe had been a little stand-offish lately. She knew her cousin was preoccupied with starting at Met U and trying to get an internship at the Daily Planet but she didn’t think things had gotten that bad between them that Chloe would give her the cold shoulder.

As Clark drove them to school, she mentioned the problem to her boyfriend.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe she was upset I went away without telling her.”

“That doesn’t really explain why she’s upset with me,” Lois said.

Clark shrugged. “We used to hang out a lot together at high school. When you came to town I guess I spent more time with you and Kally, so maybe she thought you were taking her place. I don’t know.”

Lois decided after her first class she was going to call her cousin and talk to her. Chloe was in town, spending part of it with her father, since she didn’t have class that day. She agreed to meet at a café on campus. The shop was mostly empty and they chose a quiet corner.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked when Lois sat down with her.

“Are you upset with me? Or Clark?”

The blonde shrugged. “Why would I be? I mean, Clark did go away for three months without telling me.”

“It wasn’t as if it was actually planned,” Lois told her. “His grandmother had an accident.”

Chloe shook her head. “No, she didn’t. And Clark didn’t go anywhere near Coast City. I checked.”

“Chloe!”

“Did you think I wouldn’t?” her cousin asked. “Where was Clark for three months, Lois? I know you know.”

“I can’t …”

“Does it have something to do with the caves? Or why you two are so secretive about Kally? What really happened when he ran away to Metropolis?”

Lois raised her hand. “Okay. Stop. Did you ever stop to think that we were trying to protect Kally?”

“Of course you were. That’s why I didn’t say anything. But I can’t take it anymore. Clark’s my best friend and I would have thought he’d at least have gotten the hint that I knew something about him. I mean, what’s it gonna take for him to get a clue, Lo? A huge anvil dropped on his head? And I know that won’t hurt him. I mean, I saw him catch a car.”

“You what?” Lois stared at her incredulously.

She had so many questions she wanted to ask her cousin. Like how long she’d kept the whole thing a secret. Why she hadn’t just come out and told them what she’d seen.

She could understand a little why Chloe was upset. She cared about Clark and wanted him to trust her enough to tell his secret but the blonde also needed to understand that there was far more at stake than his abilities. If word got out that not only did he have such abilities, but also that Kally was his, there was no telling what certain people would do with that information.

“If you’re worried about certain people finding out, don’t. I mean, loose lips sink ships and I’m not about to be the iceberg to his Titanic.”

Lois rolled her eyes. Her cousin had always had a way with words, but comparing Clark to the Titanic … Then again, Titans had once been gods and with his abilities, Clark would have been considered something akin to a God in ancient times, and …

“My God, can you get any more over-dramatic?” Lois asked herself.

She huffed. “All right. We’ll start at the beginning. The first night I met Clark was that night in Metropolis.”

As she talked, telling Chloe everything about how they’d met, she fired off a text to Clark. She knew he’d had a class an hour after his first one had ended, but he should be free by now.

Clearly he’d used super speed as she had barely sent the text when he appeared in the café.

Lois finished relating the story as he sat down. She’d informed him in the text that Chloe knew about his abilities. Her cousin didn’t look at all surprised to see him.

“I knew you were fast, Clark, but I didn’t think you were supersonic fast.”

“Chloe …”

Lois glanced at him and shook her head, then turned back to Chloe.

“How did you figure it out?”

The blonde shrugged. “I always knew there was something different about Clark, but it wasn’t until Alicia came back.” Alicia had apparently teleported her then called Clark telling him something was wrong with her car before teleporting them both to a hiding place. Chloe had watched her friend catch the car and speed away once he realised no one was inside.

“That was eight months ago,” Clark said incredulously. “Are you telling me you’ve kept that secret all this time?”

“I did try to tell you, but I don’t think there is a subtle way of telling you what I knew. And I don’t know everything, obviously. After what Alicia showed me, I did some digging and put a few pieces together, but … I mean, I did figure it couldn’t have been from the meteor rock. I had that list so I knew most of the meteor-infected only had one ability. Maybe two. Not as many as you, though.”

“I was born with them,” he said. He looked at her with an odd expression. “I should have known from all the things you kept saying to me.”

“I knew from all the times you got so defensive when I investigated anything to do with your secret that you wouldn’t be happy, so I went out of my way to be supportive.”

Clark nodded. “Yeah. I wouldn’t have taken it well if you’d just come out and say it. Thanks for that. So, have you told anyone else?”

She shook her head. “No. But it’s been bothering me. Especially after you went away for three months. I did my best to cover for you, even hacking into the bus service to make it look like you caught a bus to Coast City the day we graduated. That way if Lex did any digging, he wouldn’t find anything too incriminating.”

“Smart thinking, cuz.”

“Anyway, I have to admit I was kind of jealous because of how close you two were getting and I thought you’d forget our friendship.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” Clark said.

“Well, I know that. Now. I’m sorry, you guys. I guess I just felt a little left out.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lana has some news.

Bubsy was covering the reception desk when Lois’ father came in. He’d volunteered to babysit Kally while Lois was at school. He was carrying his grand-daughter, grinning from ear to ear. The toddler was holding a bunch of flowers in her hand.

The inn owner smiled at the pair as the general approached the desk.

“Are those for your mommy?” Bubsy asked the toddler.

Sam looked a little bashful. “Actually, they’re, uh, for you.” He nudged his grand-daughter. “Go ahead, sweetheart.”

The toddler handed them over. They were nothing too fancy. Bubsy figured they’d come from Martha’s garden, not that she minded. It was a rather sweet, thoughtful gesture from the man, who sometimes tended to be a little too gruff.

He cleared his throat. “Uh, I was wondering if you … uh, would like to accompany me to a function on Friday evening.”

“A function?” she echoed, gazing curiously at the man.

“It’s really nothing. Just a dinner and a few old warhorses like myself exchanging war stories.”

He hesitantly explained that it was a fundraiser for the Kansas Veterans Administration, raising money for the welfare of veterans. Luthorcorp was apparently the main sponsor for the evening. Of course, the general would be expected to show up in his dress uniform but his invitation had included a ‘plus one’.

“You don’t have to come, if you don’t want to,” he said, as if about to change his mind. He continued to babble on about how these things tended to be rather boring and he wouldn’t want to impose on her.

“Sam,” she said, interrupting him. “I’d be delighted to accompany you.”

He looked at her, almost wide-eyed, as if surprised by her acquiescence, then broke out into a huge smile. It was obvious it had been a very long time since the man had asked any woman out. Probably since his wife died, she imagined.

She liked the man. They had been spending a lot of time together, particularly on the days when he would drop off his grand-daughter. He’d often come early just to chat over coffee and they’d found they had a few things in common.

She’d even told him the story about the child she had given up and he had offered to use his contacts to see if he could find out what had happened to it.

Now that the issue of asking her to the function was over, Sam relaxed, taking her up on her invitation to chat with her over coffee. Kally was sitting on the floor playing with a few toys and they were good-naturedly arguing over a book they’d both read when Lois and Clark came in.

Lois stopped in the middle of the reception area to stare at them for a second before she turned to Clark and nudged him. He rolled his eyes at her and went to his daughter.

“Hey munchkin. Whatcha doing?”

Kally handed him the rag doll she’d been playing with. Bubsy watched, amused, as Clark played with his daughter, pretending the doll was real and talking to the teddy bear.

“How was school?” Sam asked Lois.

“It was great, Daddy.” She put her bag down and sat on the sofa, watching Clark and Kally before turning back to her father. “Did you want to stay for dinner?”

Bubsy looked at him. “Please stay, Sam. There’s plenty of food.”

Lois went to grab the reception book, looking over the entries. While it wasn’t exactly part of her job, she liked checking up on the guests, making sure they had enjoyed their stay. She’d even convinced Bubsy to let her work on the inn’s website and some of the comments had been put up on the site.

It had actually been suggested by the young man who had stayed at the inn a few months ago. Arthur had spent half his stay flirting with Lois, while also giving Bubsy ideas about how to encourage more people to stay. Even in winter time, Smallville could be quite pretty. Not to mention its interesting history with the meteor shower. Some tourists apparently liked to explore strange phenomena.

“Any comments, sweetie?” Bubsy asked.

“Some,” she replied. “All good.”

“Well, I’m not surprised,” Sam said. “This place is charming.”

Bubsy nodded, not commenting on the man’s choice of phrase. It wasn’t something she expected from him, considering his military background. She did agree with it, however. The inn had once been a stately manor, built when Smallville had first been established in the late 19th century. It had first been owned by Ezra Small, who had founded the town. Of course, the building had gone through a few cosmetic changes since then.

“Well, I’m grateful to you and your men for all the repairs they did,” she told the general.

The roof had certainly needed some decent repairs and the men had made sure the building would be warm and cosy throughout the winter.

Shortly before dinner, Bubsy went out to the kitchen to check on the meal preparation with the cook while Clark took his daughter out to Lois’ room to give her a bath and get her ready for bed.

As she finished her conversation with the cook, Bubsy turned to notice Lois watching her.

“Is everything all right, sweetie?” she asked.

The nineteen-year-old nodded. “Everything’s fine. I just … I couldn’t help picking up on some vibe between you and my dad. He invited you to the dinner on Friday, didn’t he?”

Bubsy bit her lip, suddenly wondering if perhaps she shouldn’t have accepted the invitation after all. Lois grinned and hugged her.

“I told him to,” she said. “He’s been talking about asking you out for ages and I kept telling him I didn’t have a problem with it. He likes you. And if I’m not mistaken, I think you like him too.”

She looked at her friend. “You really don’t mind?”

“Of course not. I mean, I can tell you’ve become pretty good friends and why shouldn’t you go out and have fun? It’s not like you’re ready for the old folks’ home or anything.”

Bubsy narrowed her eyes at her, before realising Lois was teasing.

“You’ll get yours, young lady.”

Lois just laughed. “Call me biased, but you’re quite the catch and any guy would be lucky to find someone like you. I’m just glad my dad got there first.”

After dinner, Lois had to attend to her duties, while Clark sat in the main room working on a paper. It hadn’t taken long for the homework to start piling up and she was grateful for Clark’s extra tutelage.

They had been spending a lot of time together. Or at least, as much as they could spare, since Lois and Clark’s parents had continued to remind him to be careful about using his abilities unless he was out helping people. Even on the farm. They had all agreed to keep up the illusion that Clark was just a normal guy.

Lois had told her boyfriend about the conversation with Lana and they’d both noticed the brunette had been spending a lot of time with Lex. Or, rather, he’d been taking her out to different events. Clark had been keeping his distance from his friend, not wanting to give away anything which Lex might somehow learn about. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Lana. It was more that he was worried she might not have a good poker face.

So they were surprised a week later when Lana came over to the farm. They’d gone out for their usual Saturday family date and were just relaxing in the loft. Kally was in the playpen, playing with a few toys and babbling away to herself, while Clark and Lois sat on the couch, exchanging kisses.

Lois heard the creak of the stairs and pulled away from Clark. He frowned at her, looking slightly dazed. He’d obviously been distracted enough that he hadn’t been listening.

“What?” he asked, confused. “What did you pull away for? We were just …”

She heard the creak again and punched his shoulder. “Nice, Smallville. Could you try thinking with your other brain for a second?”

His frown deepened and he turned his head toward the stairs.

“Mom?” he called out.

A figure appeared at the top. “No, it’s me.”

“Lana?” She looked uncertain, pushing her hair back with one hand as if the long, dark curtain suddenly annoyed her.

“Your mom said you were out here. I hope it’s okay that I came by. I just … I needed to talk to you. Both of you.”

She looked over toward the playpen, a soft smile on her lips.

“She’s growing so fast,” she said quietly. “Feels like ages since I’ve seen her.”

Lana had decided shortly before graduation that she wasn’t going to go to college. Her three months in France had led to her deciding that studying art probably wasn’t the best direction for her but she had no idea what else she was going to do.

Lois had the sense that Lana was still a little lost as to her purpose in life. While she claimed she still cared for Clark, and was happy they were in a relationship, Lois had to wonder if the other girl was only doing so out of some misguided attempt to keep holding onto the past. As if Clark represented a way for her to identify herself.

Lois was comfortable in her own skin. Having been independent most of her life, she was secure in herself and didn’t define her own identity by her boyfriend. Clark understood that and never tried to change her.

She had the feeling Lex had latched onto that insecurity in Lana and was exploiting it for his own purposes.

“Is everything okay, Lana?” Clark asked.

The brunette hesitated. “Um, I don’t know.” She looked a little uncertain as she pulled the chair out from the desk and sat down. “You know I’ve been spending a lot of time with Lex lately.”

Clark nodded. “Yeah. I know.”

They hadn’t really talked to her, not in-depth, for well over three months. What with school and their respective jobs, as well as their weekly dates, it had left little time for anything else.

“I guess that’s why we’ve hardly talked lately. Um, I assume Lois told you about the things I said when you were away. I’m not going to ask what that was all about,” she said. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“Then why are you here?” Lois asked quietly.

“I was over at the mansion the other day and Lex was talking with a doctor in the study when I came in.”

“How do you know?” Clark asked.

“Other than the fact Lex called him ‘doctor’?” Lana replied with a ‘well, duh’ look.

“Okay, fine. You got me.” Clark looked concerned as the information sunk in. “Is there something wrong? Is Lex sick?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. I didn’t hear much of what was said but it didn’t sound like that kind of meeting. Anyway, I don’t know what made me do it but I looked up the man. He’s a researcher. But his research involves children.”

Lois gasped in horror, her gaze immediately turning to her daughter. Clark squeezed her hand.

“Is there anything else you can tell us about this guy?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Not really.” She took a slip of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Clark. “Here’s his details. I thought you might be able to dig up some more about him.”

“Thank you, Lana,” Lois said. “This is really valuable information for us to know.”

The brunette sighed. “It feels like I’m betraying Lex, somehow. I mean, he’s been nothing but good to me, but … I don’t know. He keeps asking about you and why you don’t come around much anymore. I mean, I know things have been busy with your dad’s campaign … and with Lex and his.”

Clark’s ‘uncle’ Jack Jennings, who was his father’s best friend, had served as state senator for the last two terms. A month earlier, he had come to Smallville to, as he had put it, get away from the rat race and take a break from the upcoming election. No sooner had he arrived when Clark learned the senator was embroiled in a scandal. He’d been cheating on his wife with a woman who had been a stripper at a Gentleman’s Club in Metropolis. The woman had been killed when she'd been hit by a car.

Chloe, who had managed to get an internship at the Daily Planet, had answered a hotline late one night only for a woman to beg her to tell her story. Lois had been at the Planet at the time, spending the night with her cousin. The two had teamed up to investigate when the young woman had been murdered.

Clark had done some investigating of his own, hoping to clear his uncle’s name, and had ended up at the club where Lois had been forced to pretend to be a stripper, so Chloe could question the dancers backstage.

Lois couldn’t help remembering the look on her boyfriend’s face when he’d realised what she was doing. His face had been almost fire engine red. She’d gone to the table where he’d been sitting and sat in his lap, unsurprised to find that despite his mortification, he was very much enjoying the show.

Chaos soon ensued when the police raided the club and Lois was hauled out of there by a man who had turned out to be the killer. Luckily, Clark and Chloe had figured out what had happened and come after them.

The upshot of it all was that Jack had chosen to step down, suggesting Jonathan put his name forward as senator instead. After some family discussion, Jonathan had decided to run. Lex was his opponent.

Lois was so deep in thought that she almost missed the rest of what Lana was saying.

“I guess he understands there’s kind of a conflict of interest.” She stopped. “I’m babbling. I just … I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I mean, I know you guys are still here and everything, but it just feels like everyone I care about is gone. Nell, Chloe, Jason … It just feels like there’s nothing left for me in Smallville.”

Lois looked at Clark, who was frowning at his friend.

“Are you leaving?” he asked.

“Nell thought a break away from here might be good and I … kind of agree with her. I didn’t tell anyone but when we were applying for colleges, I got accepted to Columbia. It’s just General Studies, but Nell and I talked to the Dean and I can start in the spring.”

“New York?” Clark looked incredulous. “You’re going to New York?”

“No, Clark, she means Colombia the country.”

Clark shot Lois a glare. “Very funny.”

Lois smiled at Lana. “I think that sounds great, Lana. I mean, we’ll miss you, but you have to do what you feel is best for you.”

Lana got up and hugged Lois. “Thank you. That means a lot. Anyway, I just wanted to warn you about Lex. I hope I’m wrong, but …”

Lois nodded as the other girl looked down at Kally. As much as they all hoped Lana was wrong, she had a feeling she wasn’t. Lex had been asking too many questions about Kally. There was no way he would ever believe the story that Kally’s father was someone other than Clark. There were just too many similarities between father and daughter.

Lana turned and went back down the stairs. Clark got up and picked up his daughter, holding her close.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Lois said, “but you can’t run away with her. Nor can you wrap her up in cotton.”

“You don’t know what I was thinking,” he replied.

“Don’t go all over-protective Daddy. We don’t know the full facts yet. Lana did say he was some kind of researcher. Maybe it was about something completely different.”

“You really believe that?” he asked.

As much as she wanted to tell herself it was all completely innocent, she knew Lex well enough now that nothing that man did was innocent. He was scheming something involving her daughter.

God help the man if he ever did do something to Kally. There wouldn’t be a jury in the world that wouldn’t side with her if she did something in retaliation.

At dinner that night, they discussed the problem with Clark’s parents.

“I’m not dropping out of the race,” Jonathan said.

Clark shook his head. “We don’t expect you to. That’s not what this is about. I don’t want to make the same mistakes I made with Phelan. Or with Roger Nixon.”

He’d told Lois about the ex-cop who had witnessed him doing a save when he was fourteen and the reporter from the Metropolis Inquisitor who had threatened to take what he knew to the papers. There had been a connection with Lex both times, although the first time hadn’t been his fault.

Clark sighed. Lex had a habit of doing things that pushed ethical boundaries. The last project had been Leviathan, although thanks to Arthur Curry, that project had failed spectacularly. Clark had initially been wary of the young man who had flirted with Lois every time he saw her. That wariness had led him to do some digging on the University of Miami student, learning he had got himself in serious trouble when he’d broken into a resort and released some dolphins back into the ocean.

He’d followed him and learned A.C. was trying to stop Project Leviathan, which was some kind of weapon being tested at Crater Lake. It was killing marine life.

While Clark hadn’t agreed with the other man’s tactics, he understood A.C.’s concerns. When he’d talked to Lex about it, his friend had denied any knowledge of what the weapon was doing.

It looked like the bald man was doing it again. Clark realised on some level that Lex thought he was trying to do what was good for humanity, but his interest was more in protecting Luthorcorp’s interests than actually doing what was right. In a lot of ways, Lex had become worse than his father.

“So, what do you think he’s doing?” Clark’s mother asked.

“At a guess, I would say he’s looking for any kind of dirt he can use against Dad,” Clark told her.  
Lois nodded her agreement. “When Lana talked to me during summer, she pretty much implied that Lex knew Kally was Clark’s. Chloe did her best to cover Clark’s training at the fortress, but Lex obviously has access to resources we don’t know about.”

“I think the important thing is to keep a close eye on Kally at all times.”

“What about when she’s at the Inn?” Lois asked. “We can’t exactly tell Bubsy, or my dad.”

“That’s true,” he conceded.

As much as he wanted to believe Lex wouldn’t just try to snatch Kally in the middle of the day from a busy inn, he knew the other man was just that ruthless.

“Speaking of the Luthors, what is Lionel up to these days?” his father asked.

“I wish we knew. He’s been oddly quiet.”

As far as Clark knew, Lionel was still staying in the guesthouse at the mansion. Lex’s relationship with his father was volatile at best and it wouldn’t have surprised him if there had been some kind of blow-up between the two Luthors and Lex kicked his father out.

Lionel had been travelling back and forth to Metropolis, but while Chloe had done her best to keep an eye on the man’s activities, she was only able to do so much.

The revelation that Chloe had known about his abilities for a while had actually helped their friendship. He’d wondered if she had been a little jealous of his relationship with Lois and it looked like they were growing apart, but now that she knew the truth about him, they were closer than ever. He was glad in a lot of ways that they hadn’t decided to pursue dating after freshman year. The idea of them losing their friendship over a failed romantic relationship was something he didn’t want to think about.

As he drove Lois and Kally home, he talked to her about maybe getting Chloe to do some digging.

“We can check this doctor out ourselves,” Lois said.

“I know. And we will. I just think that Chloe might be better placed to look into Luthorcorp itself. She has a few contacts. Maybe she can figure out what Lex is up to on her end.”

“Is this your idea of not wanting her to feel left out?” Lois asked, smiling at him. “That’s what I love about you, Smallville. You’re always thinking about others.”

He grinned at her, slowing the truck to pull in at the inn. “Chloe’s important to you and she’s important to me. I mean, one day she’ll be my cousin too.”

His girlfriend cocked an eyebrow at him. “One day? You’re awfully sure of yourself, Clark Kent.”

They hadn’t exactly talked about marriage, but as far as he was concerned, that was the future he saw for them. Marriage, a home of their own, more children. He loved her. Maybe they weren’t quite ready for that step, but he was never more sure of anything.

Lois kissed him and got out of the truck. Clark got out the other side and picked up his sleeping daughter, careful not to wake her as they left the parking lot and walked through to the back of the inn.

Together, they got Kally into her pyjamas without waking her and put her down in the crib. Clark picked up the teddy bear he’d bought her the year before and placed it gently beside her.

Lois sighed. “It’s late,” she said.

“Yeah. I guess I should get going.”

His girlfriend pressed close to him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. Lois pulled him over to the bed. They stretched out together, holding each other, exchanging long, passionate kisses. It was a long time before Clark looked at his watch again. When he did, he realised it was after midnight. He began to pull away gently and his girlfriend whimpered.

“Don’t go,” she said.

“You want me to stay?” he asked quietly.

“I … I don’t know if we … I mean …”

They hadn’t slept together. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to. It was more that he knew it would be too hard to leave.

Lois looked up at him, her hazel eyes searching his. “Do you … I mean, I …”

“Lois, you know I love you.”

“I know. And I feel the same way. You know I do. I just don’t know if I’m ready for that. I mean, the last time I slept with you, I got pregnant. Not that I regret having Kally for a second. I just …”

He nodded. They both needed to focus on their studies and they couldn’t do that if they ended up having another child so soon. As much as he adored his little daughter, there were already so many complications in their lives.

“I could stay and just hold you,” he suggested. “We don’t have to do anything else.”

She nodded and pulled away, getting up to grab her pyjamas from underneath the quilt folded at the end of the bed. She smiled at him and went into the bathroom while Clark stripped down to his boxers and t-shirt. He pulled the covers down, unsure which side she would prefer.

Lois came out of the bathroom wearing long cotton pyjamas with what looked like pastries on them. Clark grinned, looking down at the bunny slippers she wore on her feet.

“What?” she asked. “My dad got me these last Christmas.”

“I know. They’re cute.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and lifted her head for his kiss. “You’re cute,” she returned.

“I know I am,” he responded. She rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder.

“Careful of that ego, Smallville.”

He laughed softly, taking her hand and guiding her over to the bed.

“Come on, Lane. Into bed with you.”

She grinned mischievously. “You going to tuck me in and read me a story?”

He jabbed her in the ribs until she laughed. They settled down in the bed together. Lois lay with her head on his chest.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“For what?”

“For being you.”

He cuddled her close and listened to the gentle rhythm of her breathing as she fell asleep in his arms.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brunch with the general.

Clark quietly closed the door and tiptoed across the floor to make his way upstairs. He had barely managed to step onto the first stair when he heard the sound of a cough.

“Something you want to tell us, son?” his father said.

He turned and looked guiltily at his parents. He’d thought by coming in the front door, he could avoid a confrontation, but obviously not. Even as busy as they were with the campaign, they were still in the habit of getting up early.

“Uh … I spent the night with Lois,” he said, deciding honesty was the best policy.

“I see.” The older man did not look impressed. Clark bit his lip.

“It wasn’t like that, Dad. It was late and she wanted me to stay. But nothing happened. I promise.”

His mother sighed. “Clark, honey, we get that you’re both adults and we can’t stop you doing what you want when you’re not here, but …”

“Mom, I promise. We just slept. That’s all. Considering what Lana told us yesterday, we really don’t want the extra complications. I mean, if Lex is planning on doing something to Kally, it would be ten times worse if we had another child together.”

“So … you’ve talked about this?” his father asked.

“Yeah, Dad. We have. And we both agreed that it’s just the wrong timing for a sexual relationship. I mean, we will. Eventually. But with school and jobs, we decided that that’s plenty to concentrate on.” He gazed at his parents. “I know you think we’re too young for a committed relationship and, well, we’re old enough to know that this is what we want. I mean, we haven’t really talked about the future, but I know we’re going to get married one day. When we both have jobs and a steady income.”

He could understand their concerns. After all, the one time he had slept with Lois, she had ended up pregnant. Even though they’d used protection. Obviously it wasn’t one hundred percent effective, and he had no idea if it was because of his differences, or if it had just been luck.

“Well, it seems like you’ve thought this through,” his dad said.

“We have. Um, anyway, I have to go do my chores and shower. I’m taking Lois and Kally out for Sunday brunch with her father.”

“Remember what we said about your abilities, Clark,” his mother reminded him.

“I know, Mom. I’ll be careful.”

Kally had woken them up early that morning. Clark had been planning on leaving early in the morning, so he could do the majority of his chores before the sun rose, but his daughter had woken up crying and he’d gone to comfort her, hoping Lois would still be asleep.

No such luck, she’d told him. Having a child meant she usually slept with one ear open in case her daughter needed her.

She’d begged him to stay for a little while longer and he took the toddler back to the bed, holding her close until she settled down again. He and Lois had talked quietly about Lana’s revelations and decided they needed to warn the general in case somebody did try something.

What they were going to tell the elder Lane was another issue.

Clark had left the inn shortly after the sun rose. Lois had gone back to sleep again with Kally cuddled up with her mother.

He managed to get through the chores fairly quickly, then showered before returning to the inn. Lois was dressed and ready, looking pretty in a cream knit roll-necked sweater and jeans. Kally was similarly dressed.

“Daddy,” she greeted him.

“Hi munchkin. Ready to go have brunch with Grandpa?”

“Grampa,” she said with a giggle. She’d recently learned how to say the word, although her pronunciation wasn’t perfect yet.

Lois bent to buckle her into the child seat but Kally squirmed, kicking her legs, giggling as if she thought it was a great joke.

“Stop squirming, brat!” Lois scolded her.

“You brat,” Kally returned.

“No, you are,” her mother replied, trying to hide her laughter at the toddler’s cheekiness.

“Daddy brat,” the little girl said, looking at Clark, who gazed back at her with an incredulous expression.

“Why am I a brat?” he asked.

“Daddy brat.”

“Okay, that does it. Here comes the tickle monster,” he said, reaching over to tickle her. It was enough to distract her so he could strap her in. Kally looked rather put-out at her little game being foiled, pouting at him. Lois laughed.

“That’s what you get for squirming,” she said. The toddler responded by blowing a raspberry at her mother.

“Don’t you blow raspberries at me,” Lois replied. Kally pouted. Clark couldn’t help but laugh as his girlfriend leaned forward and pressed a kiss to their daughter’s lips and blew a raspberry. Kally giggled.

“All right, enough of this tomfoolery,” Clark interjected, thinking he sounded a lot like his dad when he’d been younger. His dad had played similar games. "We need to hit the road or we’ll be late meeting the general.”

He drove them to the diner in Granville where they often went for their family dates. The staff knew them there and were always happy to see them. Lois made sure Kally didn’t misbehave, unlike some children Clark had seen.

Louisa, the assistant manager, greeted them with a smile.

“Hello again. Here for brunch?”

Clark nodded. “Thanks.”

Louisa grinned at Kally in her mother’s arms. “Hello sweetheart. Look at you. You’re getting so big. How old are you now?”

Kally looked a little confused, so Lois answered for her.

“She’ll be two in April.”

“Wow!” Louisa looked wistful. “They grow up so fast.”

Clark nodded and smiled at her. “Um, we’re meeting Lois’ dad here.”

The woman nodded in return. “Is he a stocky man? Kind of balding?”

Lois smiled. “Yep, that’s my dad.”

“He’s here already. Follow me.”

Sure enough, Sam Lane was sitting in a booth. He had a glass of orange juice in front of him. The older man smiled in greeting, holding out his arms for his grand-daughter. Lois cheerfully handed over the toddler, who sat in her grandpa’s lap.

“Are you late or am I early?” he asked.

Lois rolled her eyes at him. “Hey, you can blame your grand-daughter for that. She wouldn’t let me strap her in.”

“We had to resort to other tactics,” Clark said, aiming the ‘dad’ look at his daughter. Kally just grinned innocently.

Her grandfather tickled her ribs, making her giggle. “Is that right, little girl?” he said with a laugh.

The server came to take their orders. She was another long-term staffer who served them regularly. She chatted with them for a little while, before taking their orders to the kitchen. She had left a pitcher of water with lemon for the table.

Lois looked at her father. “Dad, there’s something we needed to talk to you about.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You two aren’t getting married, are you?”

Clark almost dropped the pitcher. “Uh, no, sir. Not yet.”

“I see.”

“Dad, we decided together that that can wait until after college and once we’ve got good jobs.”

“Well, good. I’m glad you’re being sensible about it. So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Lex Luthor.”

The general looked at Clark, clearly confused.

“What about him?”

Clark told the man what Lana had told them about the doctor.

“He’s taken an odd interest in Kally,” Lois said. “We don’t know why.”

“I’m still not sure what this has to do with me.”

“We’re worried that Lex might do something, like try to take her,” Clark said.

The older man still looked puzzled. He had worked with Lex the summer Lionel had been awaiting trial for the murders of his parents, but Clark had no idea how the general really felt about his former friend. He’d learned the hard way that doing any kind of deal with Lex didn’t come without some sort of price.

“Why would he want to take her?”

Lois sighed. She shot Clark a questioning look, but he minutely shook his head. He wasn’t ready for the general to know the truth about him.

“How much do you know about Lex?” he asked.

“Other than what he did for Chloe last summer,” the older man replied. “Not much. And you have to understand that he came to me. He told me that he was concerned Lionel might have got to one of the federal agents working on the indictment against his father and that Chloe was a witness. He wasn’t convinced the agents could protect her. So I called in some favours and had my men pull Chloe and her father out of the safehouse.”

The server brought their meals out, placing them on the table.

“What do you think of him?” Lois asked, once the server had left.

“Personally, I have very little time for the man. I find him to be brash, arrogant, and more concerned with profits than people. I heard about the debacle with the Navy and environmental issues aside, I felt the project was too ambitious and risky.”

Well, that was a relief, Clark thought, realising Lois’ father was definitely no fan of the Luthor scion. Perhaps he, too, realised that any deal with Lex was a Faustian deal at best.

“Did you know I saved his life?” Clark asked.

The older man looked at him curiously. “No, I didn’t. Care to explain?”

Clark told him what had happened the day Lex had drowned, leaving out the fact that Lex had hit him before they’d both gone in the water.

“Ever since then, he’s been convinced there is more to it and he’s investigated my family behind my back.”

“The thing is, we haven’t told anyone in town that Kally is Clark’s, and Lana believes he knows the truth. We’re worried that he wants to use Kally in some twisted scheme to win the election.”

Sam nodded, sipping his orange juice. Clark noted he was holding his grand-daughter more firmly, as if fearing she would be snatched from him.

“You’re right. That is something to be concerned about. What can I do to help?”

“Other than being vigilant,” Lois told him. “Especially when Kally’s with you.” She sighed, reaching a hand across to his. “We didn’t want to alarm you, Dad, but we don’t want anything happening to you. Or to Kally.”

He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “I’m glad you told me, sweetheart.” He turned back to Clark. “What’s your plan?”

“We’re going to do some digging into this doctor and see what we can find out about him. We have some time after our history class tomorrow, so we’ll go use the computer at the newspaper office.”

“Good,” he said.

Lois was quiet in the truck on the way back to the inn. Clark glanced at her.

“You okay?” he asked.

She looked at him. “Yeah, I’m just glad my dad didn’t ask too many questions.”

“I think he knows more about Lex than he’s letting on. I mean, maybe it’ll turn out to be nothing, but …”

“With Lex, we can’t be too sure.”

Clark thought about the rest of the conversation at brunch as he drove back to the farm. Once they’d got the issue of Lex out of the way, Lois had asked her father about his dinner date with Bubsy. The general had initially tried to deny that it had been a date but even Clark had known it was. He finally admitted it had gone very well although hadn’t hinted at asking her out again.

Lois had been talking for a couple of months about the way she’d seen her dad and her boss chatting together several afternoons a week. She was glad that her father was actually building a friendship with Bubsy and even quietly hoped it would turn into something more. Sam hadn’t dated or even so much as looked at another woman since Ella and the time the pair spent together was promising.

As she’d told Clark, she wanted her father to be happy. The fact that she adored Bubsy was just an added bonus.

The early morning frost had just started to thaw when Lois joined Clark outside their history class. Professor Abbott had been giving them pointers for their mid-terms, which were coming up in a matter of weeks.

Lois hadn’t enjoyed history in high school but the professor just seemed to have a way of telling stories that made it a fascinating subject. Her genuine enthusiasm for the topic was contagious and practically every student spent the hour lecture hanging on every word.

“How did you do on the paper?” Clark asked. The professor had handed back their research papers on the way out of class.

Lois grinned at him and showed the circled ‘A’. She couldn’t help crowing a little, so proud of herself for the grade. “I never got an A in history in my life!” she said. “I always thought it was so boring, but she …I mean, it’s not boring when she’s teaching it.”

“I know,” he said. “It shows just how good a teacher she is.”

“Well, thank you for the compliment, Mr Kent. Ms Lane.” They turned and looked at the professor, who smiled at them. “You’re right. I’ve always felt a good teacher is able to inspire their students to do well, and it’s very gratifying when I see it in my own students.”

With another smile, she moved to pass them, meeting another professor in the hall as another lecture let out.

“Let’s go grab some coffees and get to the Gazette,” Lois said.

The newspaper office was small, but they had a computer that could be used for research, as long as it was being used for a potential story. Michael, the editor, asked them what was up.

Clark lied and told him they were researching for a story on children’s illnesses. As it turned out, it wasn’t that much of a stretch. The doctor, Frederick Loman, had been a long-time researcher in paediatric health. He’d published a paper which, for Clark, was about someone from his past.

“Tina Greer,” he said, pointing out the paper.

“What about her?”

“She was born with soft-bone disease,” he said. “It looks like Dr Loman was part of the team treating her. They used some kind of experimental serum to see if they could cure it.”

Lois read the paper on screen, skimming over the statistical stuff to get to the point of it. The serum had been made up of several chemical compounds including one she’d never heard of. Not that she’d done all that well in chemistry in high school.

“What’s this?” she asked, pointing it out.

Clark’s eyes widened as he read it. “Jor-El told me about this,” he said in a low voice. “It’s Kryptonite.” Lois remembered that his birth father had been a scientist on Krypton and would have known the chemical composition of Kryptonite. He had obviously told Clark what to look for, probably hoping that some day Clark would be able to come up with something to reduce the effects of the rock’s deadly radiation.

“I remember when I x-rayed her, she had it in her bones. This must have been what caused her ability to morph into someone else. That was how I realised it was her instead of Lex that robbed the bank that time.”

How weird it must have been, Lois thought. Clark hadn’t known at the time that he was able to see through things and the discovery would have been almost freaky.

He’d told her that Tina had become obsessive to the point of almost committing murder to get what she wanted. Clark’s theory was that the meteor rock inside her body had exacerbated some psychological issues the girl had had through her childhood.

“It says here the study on Tina was financed by Luthorcorp,” Lois read.

Clark nodded. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Do you think we should talk to Lionel?” she asked. “I mean, he’d probably know about the study done on Tina. He might be able to tell us more about this doctor.”

“We could, I guess. But then we could just go straight to the source.”

“You really think this doctor’s going to tell us what he’s doing with Lex?” Lois asked.

Clark made a face. “No. But then again, Lex has a way of twisting things to hide what he’s really up to.”

Lois had her doubts about going directly to the doctor. They had no way of determining just how honest the man was. While their research hadn’t turned up anything which might be considered a concern, there also hadn’t been anything which could clue them in as to the man’s personal morals.

She voted for going to talk to Lionel before going to talk to the doctor. Clark gave in without too much of a fight.

“Is this how it’s going to be with us? You calling the shots?”

She smirked at him. “Did you ever think it was going to be any other way?” she asked.

“Well, you do like to be on top,” he quipped.

Lois found herself blushing. Just because she’d slept practically on top of him on Saturday night, she thought.

“You are not funny, Smallville,” she said.

He nudged her. “Yeah I am.”

She groaned. If Kally took after her father in that respect, they were going to be in for a world of trouble.

Since she didn’t have to be at work until late and Clark’s afternoon class had been cancelled, they decided to head into Metropolis. Kally was at the farm with her grandparents and they figured she would be safe enough there.

Chloe met them at the main entry to the Daily Planet. The building was overshadowed by the tower of Luthorcorp Plaza, which was barely half a block away. Lois recalled Clark had once jumped from the roof of the Daily Planet to the tower to save his mother.

“Lionel has an office on the twenty-fifth floor,” Chloe told them. “I think Lex just gave in to his dad to make it look good PR-wise. Anyway, he has a meeting scheduled uptown that he should be leaving for in about five minutes.”

Lois wondered if Chloe had said anything to the staff when she’d been enquiring about Lionel’s schedule that day.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t need to contact the staff,” her cousin replied with a smug expression. “I just hacked into his diary.”

“Chloe!”

“Did you expect anything else? I mean, if Lionel got wind of your visit, he might make something up to avoid it.”

“That’s true,” Clark said.

She bit her lip, wondering how they were actually going to intercept the elder Luthor. Clark appeared to be listening, his eyes slightly unfocused as he concentrated.

“Okay, he’s on his way down. He’s using a limo,” Clark said.

As he spoke, a black limousine pulled up on the street outside the main entrance to the tower. Lois grabbed Clark’s hand and they ran together to get to the car before the older man emerged. They had just made it across the street when Lionel appeared, carrying a briefcase. The bearded man paused to speak to the driver, which gave them just enough time to make it to his side.

For a moment, his cool demeanour seemed to shift slightly, indicating to Lois that he was surprised to see them, but quick to hide it.

“Mr Kent. Ms Lane. To what do I owe the, uh, pleasure?”

“We wanted to talk to you,” Lois said, exaggerating her breathlessness a little. “About a story we’re doing.”

“Well, I’m afraid I have to run to a meeting,” he said. “Call my assistant.”

“We won’t take up too much of your time,” Clark told him. “It’s for the CKU Gazette.”

“I really …”

“We can talk in here,” Lois said, shooting the man a look as if to say that they weren’t taking no for an answer.

“Well, Ms Lane, I admire your tenacity, but …”

She pushed him toward the door the driver had been holding open. “You can admire it on the way to your meeting,” she said.

The bearded man looked amused. He relented, allowing them inside the vehicle. Lois sat opposite him while Clark sat beside him.

“What is this about?” Lionel asked as the limousine set off to its destination.

“We’re doing some research on a Frederick Loman. He’s …”

“In paediatric research. Yes, I know him, if that’s what you are asking. Many years ago, I asked him to look into my son’s case.”

Lois frowned. “What case is that?”

“His hair loss. Or did you think it was an affectation?”

Clark shook his head. “Lex told me years ago it happened in the meteor shower.”

“Then you would know that I took Lex to doctors over several months to see if they could cure him. Unfortunately, his affliction is permanent.”

Lois shrugged. “My dad’s bald. I don’t see a problem with it.”

“Ahh, but your father was not a ten-year-old boy, was he?”

Clark narrowed his eyes. “So you were doing it out of concern for your son, is that it? What about Tina Greer?”

Lionel looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “Who?”

“She was a girl born with soft-bone disease. She’s also the girl who morphed into Lex and robbed the Smallville Savings and Loan. Luckily for him, he had over a hundred witnesses to give him an alibi.”

“Yes, well, that was an unfortunate incident. Tell me. What is your interest in this Dr Loman?”

“He’s been meeting with Lex. We don’t know why.”

Lionel peered at Clark, suddenly appearing very interested in the subject.

“Hmm, well, that is interesting. I don’t recall Luthorcorp being involved in any research project involving children.” He seemed to realise exactly who he was talking to. “I’m afraid I cannot help you with your story. I have not talked with or done any dealings with Dr Loman in years.”

He ordered the driver to let them out. Lois sighed.

“Well, that was a dead end,” she said.

“Not necessarily,” Clark told her. “I x-rayed his briefcase. He had some papers inside with a label. Apex Consortium. I managed to read some of the papers. It’s some sort of coup.”

Lois stared at him. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Smallville?”

“That Lionel is trying to take Luthorcorp off Lex?” She nodded. “Yup.”

She thought for a few moments. “I bet Lionel’s worrying about the amount of money Lex has been spending lately. I mean, what with Leviathan going down the drain, and his campaign for senate, he’s got to be leaking money.”

“Remember that class we had last month?”

She frowned, then remembered it had been a lesson in the stock market. Lex was obviously stretching his resources and the more money he spent, the more risks he took with company assets, the greater the chance Luthorcorp stock would go down in value. Making it vulnerable for takeover.

“So, do you think Lionel is using Lex’s balance sheet to drive the stock prices down?”

Clark nodded. “I do. I mean, remember what Professor Abbott said? The greatest weapon has nothing to do with actual arms. It’s money.”

“Capitalism at its finest,” Lois commented. “But how is this going to help us with protecting Kally?”

“I don’t know. But if Lionel is planning some sort of coup, let’s hope that means Lex is too preoccupied with that to think about going after Kally.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Bubsy take another step in their relationship.

“What do you know about Lex Luthor?”

Bubsy frowned as she looked at her companion. Sam had come for their usual quiet afternoon. Instead of just coming to take his grand-daughter for the day while Lois was at college, he had taken both her and Kally out to lunch. Lois would probably say they were dating and in many ways, they were. She was comfortable with the general. Now that he’d let his guard down, so to speak, she found they had many things in common.

She considered his question. What did she know about Lex? The man had lived in Smallville for nearly five years but he hadn’t really had a lot to do with the locals. Other than that he owned the Talon and had tried to launch a business to save the plant from closure.

“Not much, really,” she said. “The inn occasionally does have guests who are visiting the Luthorcorp plant but the accounts always go to the Metropolis office. Why?”

Sam was studying Kally, who was playing happily on the floor with the doll he’d bought her. His gaze shifted from his grand-daughter to her.

“The kids think Luthor may be planning something to do with Kally.”

She stared at him. She knew Lois had never confirmed to anyone in town, other than those who she was close with, that Clark was Kally’s father. In a lot of ways, she understood the couple’s reasons for doing so. They were both so very young and there were those in town who might not look so kindly on them for having a child out of wedlock. Considering Jonathan and Martha’s reputation as pillars of the community, she could definitely understand their reluctance.

“Why would he do something to Kally?” she asked.

“Clark thinks it has something to do with the election campaign. Perhaps he wants to try blackmailing Jonathan into dropping out of the senate race.”

She nodded. That made sense. She wasn’t so ‘small-town’ that she didn’t understand people like the Luthors. They cared little about who they hurt on their way to the top.

“Oh dear,” she said with a sigh. “What should we do?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Annie, I’m a military man. I’m used to fighting wars, not protecting children. The kids don’t want me going and confronting Luthor, but believe you me, I’ve had thoughts about doing it. I don’t like Luthor. I don’t like his politics. I don’t like his way of doing business. I especially don’t like him doing anything that might hurt my family. The kids might not be married yet, but …”

She understood. Clark was like a son to him.

Sam had confided in her a long time ago that he had initially worried about Clark. She’d assured him that Clark was a responsible young man. Sure, the kids had made a mistake but the fact that the young man had not only stepped up and taken responsibility for his daughter, but was also helping Lois raise her, spoke a lot about his character. That the couple were planning to get married once they had finished college and settled down into steady jobs, was just an added bonus.

Since she’d known Lois, the young woman had blossomed from a scared young mother to a woman who knew where she was going and exactly how she was going to get there. She loved her daughter fiercely but at the same time, had realised that in order to give Kally a good life, she had to do something for her future. Bubsy was proud of the young woman who had become almost like a daughter to her.

They continued to sit and chat for a while. Sam showed no concern about getting back to the base. Since it was close to winter season, Bubsy had few guests and wasn’t expecting any new ones.

Just as she thought it was time that Lois should be getting back from school, she heard footsteps and the front door was flung open. A girl with long brown hair came in, sounding a little out of breath. She was holding onto a large envelope.

“Dad!”

Sam frowned. “Lucy? What are you doing here?”

She held up the envelope. “This was in the mail. I found it when I got home from school. You said you were expecting it and that it was important.” She smiled at Bubsy. “Hi. I guess you’re Miss Harrigan. I’m Lucy.”

Bubsy laughed. “I gathered that. Hello, Lucy. It’s nice to meet you. Goodness, did you run here? You’re out of breath.”

Lucy chuckled. “Yeah, sorry about that. Dad’s always complaining about me running everywhere. Is Lois home yet?” she added. “Anyway, I wanted to spend some time with Kally.” She got down on her knees to give her niece a hug.

Bubsy sent Sam an amused look. Lucy was a bundle of energy. She had clearly changed in the past few months from the girl who had turned into a troublemaker. Being home, around her family, had obviously helped.

Sam had opened up the package and had a pleased smile on his face. He looked at her.

“Annie, remember that little promise I made about helping you with your little problem?”

She frowned, then remembered he’d offered to help her find out about the child she’d been forced to adopt out.

“Yes, of course, but …”

He handed her a document. There was a photo of a handsome young man who bore a strong resemblance to the man she had loved so many years ago.

The young man would be about thirty-five now, she guessed. She read through the document. His name was Will and he lived in Metropolis.

“Oh, Sam ,” she said quietly, her eyes brimming with tears. “How did you …”

“I called in a few favours,” he told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “A few years ago they made a law change that opened up previously closed adoption files. A friend of a friend knew this organisation that helped track down the records.”

She examined the photograph more closely. Will did look like his father, but there were parts of him that reminded her of her father. She pressed a trembling hand to her mouth as she checked the birth date. She had never forgotten the day of his birth. Even if she had never been told what the baby was, she would always remember that day. After all, it was the day her heart had been broken. Giving up her child had been the hardest thing she had ever had to endure, worse even than the pain of childbirth.

Will had been adopted by an older couple who had been unable to have children. The mother had passed away when Will had been in his twenties and his father had passed just recently, according to what she read.

“Annie, if you want to contact him, you can. I’ll even take you to Metropolis.”

She smiled at the general. “Sam, you are too good to me.”

He returned the smile. “Annie, you have come to mean a lot to me. And to my family. I thank the Lord every day for Lois finding you when she did. I’d like to think my Ella had a hand in all that, somehow.” He paused and looked over at Lucy, who was happily playing with her niece. “I know it’s rather soon, but I care deeply for you, Annie. I wondered if you would, uh, I mean…“ He began muttering to himself. Bubsy caught the words, “easier with Ella.”

Sam lifted his head and looked at her. “I’m not the most eloquent of men,” he said. “I’m used to commanding troops. Ella would sometimes tell me I was hopeless at romance, but … would you … would you consider, perhaps, some time in the future, being with me?”

She gazed at him. “Sam, are you asking me to get married?”

For a military man, he sure could blush, she thought. “Uh, yes?” He looked away for a second. “I have to admit, I prefer straight-talking but I wasn’t sure if you …”

She stopped him, giving him a light kiss on the mouth. “Sam, I’m not some wide-eyed schoolgirl. Believe it or not, I have been ‘around the block’ a few times. I prefer directness and we’re both far too mature for beating around the bush. I care deeply for you, too, Sam Lane. And yes, I would be happy to be with you.”

He grinned. “You remind me so much of my Ella. She liked being direct too.”

“I will take that as a compliment.”

“You should,” he said meaningfully.

Lucy came over with Kally in her arms. Her eyes were twinkling and she appeared very happy.

“You two aren’t going to start getting all mushy now, are you? I mean, I wouldn’t want to get any ideas.”

“Lucy!” her father spluttered.

The seventeen-year-old giggled and bounced her niece in her arms. “Look, Kally. Grandpa’s blushing!” She looked at her father. “Seriously, Dad, you’ve been talking about Miss Harrigan for months.” She shook her head at Bubsy. “Honestly, the man can face a firefight without blinking an eye, but he crumbles around strong women.”

“That’s enough, Lucy,” Sam replied. He shot Bubsy a ‘help me’ look.

Bubsy laughed. “Oh, Sam, don’t you know when your daughter is teasing you?” she said. She turned back to Lucy. “You will get yours, young lady. I have no doubt your father will think up some kind of revenge later.”

Lois came in with Clark. The couple were laughing about something as they entered. Lois stopped when she saw them in the foyer.

“What’s up?” she said.

She listened quietly as her father told her what had happened. There was no hesitation as she came forward and wrapped her arms around Bubsy.

“I’m so glad,” she said. “Dad’s seemed so much happier since you two became friends. Well, more than friends.”

“Thank you,” Bubsy returned.

Lucy decided to take Kally for a walk down to the park so the adults could talk. Clark went into the kitchen to make them all some hot cocoa and Lois followed him.

She leaned against the cabinet, watching him as he worked. The chef was busy preparing dinner for the inn and had cautioned them not to get in her way.

“Wow,” Lois said. “I mean, I knew he had feelings for her, but …”

“You think it’s too fast?” Clark asked.

“No. I mean, I don’t know.”

“Well, look at it this way. Not that I’m trying to say that they’re old, but I think once you get to their age, it’s more that they don’t need the whole dating thing. Besides, they have known each other for over a year.”

“That’s true.” She looked out into the foyer where her father was talking quietly with Bubsy. They both looked happy and she knew she couldn’t begrudge them that happiness.

Clark turned away from the stove and wrapped his arms around her.

“I guess when you know something’s right, you don’t want to waste any time. And they do look great together.”

“You’re right about that,” she said, giving him a brief kiss. He tried to press for more. “Don’t go getting any ideas, Smallville. We’ve got mid-terms and we need to concentrate on studying.”

He sighed. “So, no making out? Rats!” He turned back to finish making the cocoa.

They rejoined the older couple. Lois watched her father and future stepmother as they sat closely together. Bubsy was practically glowing. The general would smile at her and it was as if they were both floating.

Lois wasn’t surprised when her father announced he was taking Bubsy out for dinner at an intimate restaurant. Which left Lois in charge of the inn, making sure everyone got their meals. The general and her friend left a short time later.

She glanced at the clock and then out the window.

“It’s getting dark,” she said. “Lucy should have been back with Kally by now.”

Clark frowned at her. “You want me to go look for them?”

She was about to ask him to do just that when Lucy came in, looking stricken.

“Luce, where’s Kally?”

“Lo …”

Clark peered at her. “Lucy, you’re hurt.”

She pressed a shaking hand to her head, just above her temple. “I … There was this woman in the park. She yelled at me and tried to take Kally’s doll. Then she hit me.”

Lucy had fallen to the ground. Dazed, she had tried to get up but by the time she managed to do so, Kally had been snatched up by the woman and a man.

Lois knew she couldn’t be angry at her sister. Even though they’d told Lucy to be careful and not to let Kally out of her sight, she’d obviously been ambushed.

“I’m sorry, Lo,” Lucy said, beginning to cry. “I tried …”

“No, Luce, this isn’t your fault.” Lois looked at Clark. It was clear he was thinking the same thing she was. That someone had been watching the inn, waiting for an opportunity.

The year before Lois had come to town, there had been a series of attempted break-ins at businesses around Smallville. The inn had been one of the ones hit and Bubsy had talked to a security consultant who had suggested she install security cameras around the property.

She hoped the cameras had caught something. If not, maybe there was something at the park.

“I’ll call Chloe,” Clark said.

Lois helped her sister into the parlour and got an icepack for the bruise on her head. Lucy had been lucky. The woman had missed her temple by less than an inch.

Clark came back in with the laptop which recorded any footage from the cameras. He had the phone to his ear at the same time.

“Yeah, I’m just about to access it now,” he said. He paused, obviously listening to something Chloe was saying, then looked over at Lucy. “Lucy’s okay. She has a bruise but I don’t think anything’s broken.”

Lois guessed he had just x-rayed her sister. She watched anxiously as he looked over the footage.

It was difficult to tell if anything was off from the surveillance. Lois grew even more anxious for her daughter’s safety as it looked like the surveillance was a dead end.

“Wait. Hold on. There was a car parked on the side of the road. We saw it when we got back but … Yeah, I can try zooming in on the licence plate.”

Clark pressed a few keys, obviously taking instructions from Chloe, as the image on the screen zoomed in.

“It’s not the greatest of angles,” he said. “I can make out maybe the first three numbers. Four-oh-six, maybe a K after that. Well, gee Chloe, even I can’t get a camera to do that. What kind of car is it? It’s a black Chevy. Sedan. What else do you want me to do? Try and get tyre treads? Run those up to the local CSI?”

Lois found herself snickering a little.

“No, we’re not going to call Mom and Dad. Or the sheriff,” he said. “If Lex is behind this … Well, see if you can find out where this doctor has his research lab. Yeah, call us back the minute you get anything.”

He hung up and looked at them. “Chloe’s going to contact her friend at the DMV and see if they can match the plate and the car.”

Lois understood why Clark refused to involve his parents or the local sheriff. He didn’t want to have to explain the situation.

“I can help you go look for her,” Lucy said. “I mean, I feel responsible …”

“No, Lucy, don’t think like that. You are not responsible.” Lois got up and beckoned for Clark to join her in the foyer. “Where would Lex take her?” she asked.

“Level three at Luthorcorp is my guess. But he may not want to take the chance of being linked to it.” Sure, not if he planned on exploiting the situation to make himself look good in the press. “Our best bet is Dr Loman.”

Lois sighed. They had been trying all day to get an interview with Dr Loman, but his assistant had been giving them the runaround.

She had worried that perhaps they’d done the wrong thing by going to Lionel first. He would more than likely try to manipulate things for his own benefit. Clark had told her the former Luthorcorp CEO had had his own collection of information on the family. Clark especially. Some of it had been Clark’s fault, since he’d been on red K when he’d mouthed off to Lionel, then threatened someone while the older man had been there as a witness, so to speak, since he’d been blind at the time.

It was an anxious wait for the phone to ring. Lois had to attend to the guests coming down for dinner and had to put on a smile. She didn’t feel like eating herself, too worried about what might be happening to her baby.

Chloe called an hour later, but the news was not good. The car had been stolen. There was no way for them to trace the driver. She did have some other news though. Loman had another office in Granville with an attached lab.

Clark immediately prepared to speed over there. Lois was torn between going with him and looking after the guests.

“You go,” Lucy said. “I can look after things here.”

“I promised Bubsy …” she began.

Lucy shook her head. “No. You need to do this. You can’t just sit around here worrying if you can do something about it. Besides, dinner’s over and there’s not much left to do. I can handle it.”

“All right, Luce,” she said, knowing her sister felt she needed to make up for what had happened, even though she didn’t blame the younger girl for a second. Her one major concern had been that it wouldn’t matter how careful they were. Someone as ruthless as Lex would do anything to get what he wanted.

Clark held her tightly in his arms as he sped to the address in Granville. The street was dark. As Lois looked around, she could tell it was a fairly poor neighbourhood. She could just make out the graffiti on the walls of the surrounding buildings.

“Look,” Clark said, pointing to a car on the side of the road. The wheels had already been stolen and the windows smashed, but it was clearly the same vehicle they’d seen in the surveillance footage.

Lois felt a hard knot in her stomach. “I don’t like this place,” she said.

“I know.” Clark squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen.”

She clung tightly to him as he studied the building. It appeared to be deserted.

“Come on,” he said in a low voice.

She did her best to keep up his long strides as they slipped through a gap in the fence and walked around the building. She looked up and saw a camera.

“Smallville!”

“Sh!t!” he said. “So much for the element of surprise.”

Sure enough, a guard came around the corner, holding a gun.

“You two lost?” he asked gruffly.

Clark looked as if he was about to attack the man when Lois had an idea. She shook her head at him.

“Kind of,” she said.

“This is private property,” the man replied.

“Funny. I thought this was a research lab owned by Frederick Loman,” she returned.

The man looked uncertain, then the radio on his hip squawked. He pulled it off his belt and spoke into it.

“Yeah. Okay.” He gestured with his gun and forced them to walk with him.

They were taken inside the building. Clark leaned toward her.

“What are you thinking?”

“Not sure yet,” she said. “I’m making it up as I go along.”

“Well, could you clue me in when you do know what you’re doing?”

They were led into a large room which was set up like the chemistry lab Lois remembered from high school. Three people were gathered around a table, their backs to the main door, while a blonde woman and a man stood looking bored on the other side.

The woman looked up at their entry, her eyes widening. She called out a warning. Dr Loman turned. At the same time, Lois heard her daughter cry out.

She glared at the man. He was at least ten years older than her father, with almost white hair. He reminded her a little of the inventor from the Back to the Future movies with his wild hair.

“Dr Loman, I presume?” she said.

He frowned. “And you are?”

“Lois Lane. And that is my daughter you have there. So, hand her over before I call the cops and have you charged with kidnapping.”

He began to stammer something about not knowing anything about kidnapping. Kally screamed out.

“Mommy!”

Clark called out. “Get away from her!” he growled, stepping toward the two remaining men at the table.

“Daddy!”

The two men looked uneasily from the doctor to Clark and clearly decided they better obey the very angry father. They backed away, their hands up. Clark scooped Kally up in his arms.

The guard shouted at Clark, but Lois turned her glare on him.

“You better not be thinking of shooting my daughter!” she growled.

He flinched, his grip on the gun faltering. Suddenly he screamed, dropping the weapon. Lois knew what had happened. Clark had used his heat vision to heat up the metal.

Meanwhile, Dr Loman had tried to slip past her. Lois moved quickly, sweeping her leg to knock the man off his feet. He tried to get up again but was clearly winded.

There was the sound of glass shattering. Lois looked around, realising Clark had grabbed a laptop and thrown it on the floor. Kally was sitting on one of the benches, safely out of the way. The couple who had taken her had clearly run for it. As had the two assistants.

The guard stared as Clark began to tear up the place.

“Uh, hey, mister, you don’t …”

Lois again glared at the man. “You really don’t want to finish that,” she said. “And you don’t want to make him any madder.” He looked at her. “Leave!” she told him.

He didn’t hesitate, turning and running out of the room. That left Dr Loman. Clark grabbed him by the collar of his lab coat. Lois heard the fabric tearing as he was hauled to his feet.

“What did you do to her?” Clark shouted in his face.

“Nothing! I swear to you …”

“You’re lying!”

“I merely ran some tests on her. Please! I wouldn’t lie about this. Think of the child. You …”

Lois glanced at Kally. She looked frightened. She ran to her daughter and picked her up, holding her close.

“It’s okay, baby. Daddy’s just mad because he thought the man hurt you.”

“Please, I was only told to run some tests on her.”

“Why?” Clark growled.

“Because it was thought there was something extraordinary about the child.”

“And is there?” Lois asked.

Lex continued to stare thoughtfully at the screen. He’d been communicating online with Dr Loman when Clark and Lois had come into the room. The transmission had been abruptly cut off when the doctor had realised the parents had come for their daughter.

It had been far too easy for them to find her. Lex shrugged. He’d hoped that Clark would have at least gone to the police. Then he could have pretended to be sympathetic with his former friend, told him he would do whatever he could to help them find their daughter. There would have been little point in Clark’s denial then.

Clark had never been one for going to the authorities and handling his rescues himself. He should have known Kent would stay true to form.

Well, no matter, he thought. He still had an ace up his sleeve. Imagine what the conservative population would think of a senate candidate’s only son having a child out of wedlock? Especially becoming a father at seventeen.

He wished the rest of his scheme had been just as promising. He had been stunned when the doctor had given him the results of the tests.

“The little girl is perfectly normal,” he’d said. Apart from a high metabolism, although even that was just the high side of normal, he’d found nothing extraordinary about Kally at all.

So much for her having her father’s gifts, Lex thought. He knew there was something different about Clark Kent and had hoped he would have at least found some kind of proof in the little girl. He hated being wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, firstly, Sam and Bubsy are mature people and as Clark points out, when you're a certain age, when you know what you want, why waste a minute of it dancing around your feelings?
> 
> Secondly, I didn't want to dwell on what happens with Kally. Although things are not totally resolved.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jonathan's campaign for senate looks to be in jeopardy as an article appears in the Daily Planet.

Clark had just finished class when Lois ran up to him. She was breathless as if she had run a long way. She looked upset.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Have you seen the news today?”

He shook his head. “No. Why?”

She pulled him out of the way of other students leaving the lecture theatre and took a folded piece of paper out of her pocket. Clark realised it was a news article.

_KENT’S LITTLE SECRET_

_An anonymous source claims Kansas senate seat candidate Jonathan Kent has been keeping a secret from voters – a grandchild._

_When a letter arrived on the desk of the Daily Planet claiming that the son of the Smallville farmer had a child out of wedlock at the age of seventeen, we were sceptical._

_However, enquiries made in Smallville, a town approximately 100 miles southwest of Metropolis, do confirm that Clark Kent has been seen with a young woman and a child who bears a remarkable resemblance to the man._

_Clark Kent is the adopted son of Jonathan and Martha Kent. He graduated from Smallville High last summer and is now studying journalism at Central Kansas A &M._

_When approached for comment, the candidate declined to answer any questions._

_His opponent, Lex Luthor, had this to say:_

_“It’s none of my business, but as a voter, I would be extremely concerned. Frankly, I would be questioning the integrity of a man who chooses to hide the existence of a grandchild._

_“I know the Kents and they are good people, so I am astounded at this revelation.”_

_Current polls have Mr Kent trailing behind Mr Luthor, a well-known businessman._

Lois sighed. “Why do I get the feeling Lex was the one who sent the letter?” she said.

Clark nodded. He wouldn’t be surprised either. Who knew what damage this could do to the campaign.

“We better go talk to Mom and Dad,” he said.

They had no sooner stepped out of the building when they were ambushed by someone who thrust a microphone in his face.

“Mr Kent, care to comment on the article in the Daily Planet?”

“No, I don’t,” he said firmly. “And who are you?” He looked the man over. He was a short, weaselly sort of man with a bald pate and what appeared to be a beer gut. He smelled of bad body odour and cigarettes.

“Henry Cain, Metropolis Inquisitor.” He again tried to thrust a microphone in Clark’s face. “Is it true …”

“How about you get that microphone out of our face before you end up with a fist in yours,” Lois blurted.

Clark squeezed her hand, keeping her from attacking the reporter.

“Mr Cain, I have nothing to say to you,” he said, trying to keep his words polite, even as he was inwardly seething at the man’s aggressiveness.

They did their best to walk quickly away, even with the man chasing on their heels. Lois stumbled, trying to keep up with his long strides and made a small sound in protest. Clark uttered a quick apology to his girlfriend, an arm around her waist to keep her from tripping.

He was conscious of people staring at them as they passed on the way to the parking lot. It was clear they’d read the article and knew who he was, if only by sight.

Just as they’d made it to the truck, someone stepped out from behind another vehicle to intercept them.

“Mr Kent, Ms Lane …”

They whirled, staring at the man. Clark didn’t know his name but he looked a little familiar. The man was mostly bald with close-cropped blond hair on each side. He wore a three-piece suit which made Clark think he was some kind of corporate goon.

“Mr Luthor would very much like to speak with you,” he said, speaking in what sounded to Clark like a British accent.

“Lex?” he asked.

“No. The other Mr Luthor.”

“Who are you?” Lois asked.

“Senatori. Dominic Senatori. I worked for Mr Luthor many years ago.”

He quickly explained that Lex had fired him when he’d taken over Luthorcorp following his father’s arrest nearly two years earlier, but Lionel had hired him to assist him on a project. Clark suspected he knew what the project was since he’d seen the paperwork on Apex Consortium, but he didn’t mention it.

Dominic told them he’d been sent to the college campus once the story had broken. Lionel had apparently managed to get their class schedules and had made a guess on when they were likely to be returning home.

“Why should we want to hear anything Lionel has to say?” Lois asked.

Dominic smirked. “He figured you’d say that. His message to you is that he believes he may be able to help you to your mutual benefit.”

Clark sighed. It was obvious that Lionel figured if he helped them, it would help him somehow wrest control of Luthorcorp back from his son. They’d already done a little research on Apex, thinking it would be important later, but hadn’t been able to pick up much. All they knew was that it was based in Asia. It looked like Lionel had approached some investors to help him take back his company.

He took Lois gently aside. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know, Smallville. I mean, can we really trust Lionel?”

They’d hoped Lionel would have said something to Lex which would have made him think twice about whatever he had planned for Kally.

When they’d gone after the doctor a week earlier, they had questioned him, trying to get him to confess to Lex hiring him. Chloe had been furious with Clark for smashing the laptop, saying it would have helped her get proof that Lex was behind it by allowing her to backtrack the feed. She’d tried hacking into Lex’s systems, but he’d clearly upgraded his online security and it was near impossible to get in.

The doctor had backpedalled, saying he was working on a research project and the man and woman who had kidnapped Kally had claimed to be her parents, desperate to find a cure for some mystery illness. According to the story, Luthorcorp had been financing the project, but Dr Loman had been dealing with someone else in the company and hadn’t been dealing with Lex at all.

Chloe had managed to hack into the doctor’s records and there was the paperwork to prove the doctor’s story. Obviously, someone had anticipated everything and provided the doctor’s alibi.

She had also managed to get the security footage recorded before Clark had destroyed the surveillance cameras and had sent images of the couple who had kidnapped Kally to Maggie Sawyer at Metropolis PD. Maggie had become a good contact ever since the incident at the Windgate, although she constantly warned them about taking matters into their own hands instead of calling the cops to deal with it. She’d been concerned when they’d told her what had happened and had also scolded them for not calling her to begin with.

So far, the couple had denied kidnapping Kally, but Lucy had positively identified the woman.

The general had been furious when he’d found out, but not at Lucy, who had still been upset despite the quick resolution. He’d been ready to go to the Granville police station and interrogate the couple himself when he’d heard they’d been caught, but Bubsy had cautioned him to stay away.

Clark considered their options. They couldn’t really trust Lionel, and they were sure he was hoping to use the situation in a scheme of his own. Dominic had pretty much confirmed that, he thought. At least, this time, he was sure Lionel wasn’t doing it to hurt them but to get back at Lex. After all, this was the man who had allegedly poisoned his own son, drugged him to make him look psychotic, and ordered electroshock treatment to hide his own guilt over his parents’ murders.

“I think we should at least hear him out,” he said.

Lois nodded. “All right, Smallville, but only because I trust you.”

They turned back to Dominic.

“Where?” Clark asked.

The other man took a phone out of his pocket and made a call. Clark listened in on the call and heard Lionel’s voice on the other end. The elder Luthor told his assistant to tell them he would meet them on the highway near the turn-off to the former site of the abandoned office park construction. Clark knew he meant the location near the caves. He’d told Lois about the office park and how its construction had caused the caves to be re-discovered.

Clark nodded when Dominic relayed the information. “All right.”

A short time later, he turned off down the dirt road, driving toward the caves. Lois fidgeted anxiously in the seat beside him.

“It’ll be okay, Lo,” he said.

She chewed on her lower lip. “I don’t know, Smallville.”

“The thing you always have to remember about Lionel is that you just have to figure out what kind of game he’s playing and find a way to work around it. Remember what I told you about the time we swapped bodies?”

It had been such a strange couple of days. Lionel had managed to get hold of the Crystal of Water. It had called to Clark, who had immediately sped to the Kansas State Penitentiary, where Lionel had been sent following his conviction. He’d thought the older man was about to attack Lex and he’d pushed his friend out of the way, only for the weirdest sensation to hit him. He had slowly come to the realisation that he was in Lionel’s body, and Lionel was in his.

Chloe had told him later that he had been acting totally out of character. Almost scary. Of course, she hadn’t known about his abilities at the time and hadn’t figured out what was really wrong. It was only after he’d told her everything that his behaviour had made sense.

While in Clark’s body, Lionel had done everything he could to ensure it stayed that way. He’d been planning on trying to get money he’d thought he’d managed to squirrel away and just disappear.

Luckily, Clark had figured out a way to get himself back into his own body, even as weak as the older man had been. He’d had liver disease and would likely die within weeks.

He still didn’t know how it had happened, but the transference had somehow managed to cure Lionel’s liver. He’d talked to Jor-El about it but even his birth father hadn’t been able to come up with a logical explanation.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Lois replied as he brought the truck to a stop. There was a car parked a few feet away. “Okay, let’s go,” she said, getting out of the truck.

He followed her over to the car. The driver’s door opened and Lionel got out.

“Thank you for coming,” he said. “I hope you didn’t …”

Clark shook his head. “I’m not playing that game, Lionel. What do you want?”

“To help you.”

“Is this one of those ‘scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ kind of deals?” Lois asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I will admit there are some mutual advantages to this, yes,” Lionel replied. “I cannot help you change the minds of the conservative few, but I have some papers here which I believe you will find useful.”

Clark took the papers. They were mostly spreadsheets.

“Lex’s balance sheet?” he said.

“Lex has spent an inordinate amount of money and had to liquidate a few assets to fund his campaign. To his detriment. I know your farm’s finances are stretched to the limit already.”

“Are you offering a loan?”

The man scoffed. “Your father, stubborn man that he is, would not take it. As you are no doubt aware, I am very fond of your mother.”

Clark chose not to take the bait, remaining silent.

“I am sure I could have talked your mother into borrowing the funds necessary. However, no amount of money could reverse the potential damage an article such as the one in the Daily Planet this morning. I admit I find myself rather perplexed that the Planet would even run such trash only suited to the Inquisitor.”

Clark snorted to himself. It was no wonder Lex talked like a dictionary when Lionel talked the way he did. Knowing the background he came from, it was rather pretentious to talk like someone with a prestigious degree when he had neither the education nor the breeding to do so.

“Get to the point, Lionel.”

“I can provide the evidence you need to prove Lex was behind your daughter’s abduction.”

“And what do you want from us?” Lois asked.

“Nothing, Ms Lane. I assure you.”

She looked confused. “If you don’t want anything from us, why are you choosing to help us?”

Clark didn’t give him a chance to answer. “Because with Lex out of the way, he can take over Luthorcorp again. Even if Lex got off, he’ll practically bankrupt Luthorcorp just to reverse any bad PR trying to win his campaign.”

“Making the company vulnerable. You’re very astute, Mr Kent.”

“Why should we trust you?” he asked.

Lionel regarded him mildly. “I’m not asking for your trust, Mr Kent. Just your word that you will not interfere.” He scratched at his beard. “You seem to have a bad habit of nosing in my son’s schemes.”

“I still don’t get why you want to do this,” Lois said.

Clark thought about it for a second. “He’s trying to teach Lex a lesson,” he said. “Just another game of one-upmanship between you two,” he added, glaring at the man.

“Do we have a deal?” Lionel asked coolly without responding to Clark’s taunt.

“We need to think about it,” he told the older man.

“Don’t think too long, Mr Kent. My offer is finite. You have twenty-four hours.” He turned to get back in the car, then opened the window to speak to them once more. “You can keep the papers. Let’s just call that a good-faith gesture.”

Lois snorted as the man drove away. “’Good-faith gesture’? Who is he trying to kid?”

“I know,” Clark said. “Let’s get back to the farm. We need to talk this over with Mom and Dad.”

***

“Wait a minute. You’re actually considering this so-called deal?” Jonathan asked, looking more than concerned. Lois couldn’t help but agree with her future father-in-law.

It was typical of Lionel to dangle such a carrot. Clark had told her of the deal his parents had done with the man when they’d adopted him and how he’d basically blackmailed Jonathan into convincing the Ross brothers to sell their factory.

She hadn’t been thrilled at the idea of doing a deal with the devil, but Lex was just as bad, if not worse than his father. At least, or as Clark had explained it to her, they knew the kind of games Lionel played and could anticipate his moves. She wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t see that we have any other choice,” Clark said.

“I have to agree,” Martha said quietly. “I mean, we have to look at this from a voters’ standpoint. There are probably more conservatives out there than liberals and they aren’t going to look favourably on Clark and Lois having a child out of wedlock.”

She glanced at Kally, who was playing happily on the floor of the living room, oblivious to the rest of the family’s worries.

“Even if he did have the evidence, how is that going to change the vote?” Lois asked.

“It will cast doubt on Lex’s credibility if he’s charged with kidnapping,” Clark told her.

It still didn’t reassure her. Lex was just the type of snake who would try to wriggle his way out of such a charge.

“We can’t afford to hire someone to put a positive spin on things,” Lois told them. “As Lionel rightly pointed out, the budget is stretched enough as it is.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Chloe said behind them. They turned to see she had come in, with the general following close behind.

Clark had called and told Chloe what had happened with Lionel. She had more reason than most not to trust the man since he’d tried to kill her to stop her testifying against him.

“I figured you’d be having a strategy meeting,” she said.

“I take it you have some ideas,” Martha said.

“Well, maybe not me, but Uncle Sam, definitely,” Chloe replied, looking at her uncle.

“Dad?”

“I don’t know how much help it’ll be, but I put in a call to someone I’ve been dealing with at Queen Industries. The army had a contract with the company a couple of years ago.” He added that one of the employees was related to someone he had served with when they’d been fighting in the Gulf. The man had come close to being killed and the general had saved his life.

Clark shook his head.

“Even if someone from Queen Industries could help, how is this going to prove Lex is behind the kidnapping?”

“If you hadn’t destroyed the laptop, we might have had that proof,” Chloe returned snarkily.

“Can you blame him?” Lois said, defending her boyfriend. “He was angry. We both were.”

“Yeah, well, unfortunately, Maggie’s forensics specialist couldn’t recover the hard drive either.”

“What about the couple who did it? I mean, Lex had to have paid them to do it. Couldn’t we look into their financial records?” Clark asked.

Chloe sighed. “Unfortunately, this isn’t CSI. It’s not that easy.” That didn’t mean she couldn’t try though, Lois thought, telling her cousin so.

“I’m afraid we couldn’t exactly bully them into telling the truth,” Lois’ father responded. “Much as I would love to get my hands on them.”

Martha shook her head, a grin playing on her lips. “Let’s not resort to violence, Sam.”

“I have two options,” the general offered. “I can talk to one of the reporters on the army rag. See if they can help write a press release that puts a positive spin on things.”

Clark frowned. “Why don’t we write it?”

“Because we’re too close to it,” Lois told him. The last thing they needed to be accused of was bias.

As the general talked to the older couple in the kitchen, Chloe pulled them aside.

“If Lionel does have evidence, I mean, shouldn’t we try to get hold of it anyway?”

“What would you suggest, Chlo? Break into his files?”

“Well, why not? I mean, at the very least, it would give you guys some leverage over him.”

Clark sighed. “I did read those papers in his briefcase, but there wasn’t really enough to give us any details about how he’s working with the Consortium.”

Chloe nodded. “I’ve been doing a little digging myself on Apex Consortium and you’re right. They’re a group of companies out of Asia. Hong Kong, to be exact. Rumour has it, though, is that their operation isn’t exactly legal. If they were to help Lionel take control back, it’ll be less about altruism and more about wanting to launder illegal drug money here in the States.”

“That’s why Lionel asked us not to interfere,” Lois said. If they did try to prevent any of Lionel’s schemes, the drug cartels would come after them. They also wouldn’t look favourably on the man for any failures on his part.

“Chances are, Lex already knows about the coup attempt,” Clark said. “He’s not stupid.”

“That’s what worries me,” Chloe said. “I mean, he should have anticipated you’d trace Kally’s kidnappers to him. I would think he would have covered his tracks more carefully.”

Clark shook his head. “Lex has never thought rationally when it comes to me and my secret. I mean, let’s face it. That’s the whole reason he had Dr Loman test her in the first place.”

“Yes, but the good doctor backtracked,” Lois reminded him.

“Because he knew we couldn’t prove he had anything to do with it,” Clark returned.

“Look, even if we could prove Lex had everything to do with what happened, it’s not going to help your dad get elected,” Chloe said.

“No, but it’ll damage Lex’s credibility with the voters. I mean, think about it. Who would you rather vote for? Someone who schemes and plots and basically manipulates things to ensure he gets what he wants, or someone who stands up for his family, even if said family makes a mistake.” Clark looked at Lois. “Not that I think Kally is a mistake,” he assured her.

She shook her head. “No. I know what you meant. That’s what I think we need to remind people. That it was just a mistake, that thousands of people our age make. At least we’re doing the right thing by raising her and being a good example to her.”

“That’s exactly what I think will win them over,” her father replied, coming over to join them. “And you both have my full support.”

Jonathan and Martha entered the room as well.

“What do you want to do?” Jonathan asked. “We all know what happens when you do a deal with someone like Lionel Luthor, but …”

Clark looked thoughtful. “Let’s wait until the deadline to make a firm decision. If we don’t have anything by then, we’ll agree to the deal but keep trying to dig up dirt on Lionel so we at least have some leverage against him.”

Lois took some time to read through the balance sheet Lionel had given them. What he’d said about Lex over-reaching was the truth. He was going all-out in the campaign and the company’s finances had taken a serious hit, which made Luthorcorp extremely vulnerable.

She had no idea how that was supposed to help Jonathan win the campaign, or how to get the money they needed to counter Lex’s own bombardment through the media.

At dinner, Jonathan discussed selling the back forty acres to one of the neighbouring farmers. If they were lucky, they could get just under a hundred grand for it.

“Is that going to be enough?” Clark asked.

“I’ve had a look at the numbers and done some projections,” Martha replied. “It should be enough.”

“I wish I could help financially,” Lois’ dad told them.

“You’re already doing more than enough, Sam,” Jonathan said kindly.

Lois squeezed her father’s arm. “He’s right, Daddy.”

As much as she wanted to stay with her boyfriend that night, so they could continue strategizing, given the way his parents had reacted after he’d spent the night, she didn’t want to rock the boat. She didn’t blame them for being worried.

Clark picked her up the next morning and drove her to the base. The general was in his office, along with a man a few years older than them. He smiled at them.

“Hi,” he said, holding out a hand. Lois shook it. “Steve Lombard.”

“Hey Steve,” Clark said, shaking his hand. “Are you going to help us?”

“I can sure try. The general here speaks very highly of you and your parents.” He took out a small notebook and wrote something. “So, that article. Why don’t we start with you and Lois? How did you two meet?”

Lois looked at Clark and nodded. They’d discussed it and made the mutual decision to be as honest as possible. Clark slowly explained how he’d been having some problems at home, careful to emphasise that none of it had been his parents’ fault.

They moved on to the subject of Kally and how Lois had ended up in Smallville. She noticed her father looked grieved when she related the fight and why she had run away.

Eventually, the subject got around to the article.

“So, the story implied you chose to hide the fact that you fathered a child,” he asked Clark. “Is that true?”

“No, it’s not. Maybe I made the decision not to tell people in Smallville, but the most important people in my life know the truth. As far as we’re concerned, those are the only people who matter. Besides, as soon as Kally could talk, she’s called me ‘Daddy’. What people take from that is something we can’t control.”

“Besides, it’s not really any of their business,” Lois said quietly.

“Frankly, we preferred not to be judged for our youth. Yes, we made a mistake, but Kally is not the mistake.”

Lois smiled and caught Clark’s hand. “No. She’s a gift.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know little about American politics so I'm kind of making an assumption that the population would be more conservative than liberal.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The article appears ...

_**THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT KENT’S LITTLEST CAMPAIGN SUPPORTER** _

_Special Correspondent_   
_Steve Lombard_   
_December 19, 2005_   
_Metropolis, KS_

_When you first meet Clark Kent, you would think he is a quiet, unassuming young man, but you would be wrong._

_The son of Kansas Senate candidate Jonathan Kent, the 18-year-old and his partner, Lois Lane, 19, have spoken out about criticism aimed at his father._

_A recent column suggested Mr Kent was deliberately hiding the existence of his grandchild, Kally, due to the age of her parents._

_That couldn’t be further from the truth, Clark says._

_“The most important people in my life know the truth,” he adds._

_To be fair, the young couple admits that they did make a mistake but do not regret having their daughter._

_The couple met in Metropolis two and a half years ago. Lane, the daughter of army General Sam Lane, admits she was not the perfect child and had left the base where she had been living against her father’s orders._

_An argument with her father, following her daughter’s birth, prompted Lois to leave home with her child._

_She came to Smallville where she had family, secured a job and met Clark again. Lois then completed studies for her high school diploma. She credits Clark with providing the support she needed to not only achieve that diploma but also in reconciling with her father._

_Clark adds that while it was a shock learning he was a father at only 17-years-old, he was determined to do the right thing by his daughter._

_It’s clear by the way this couple talk about Kally, that she is much adored and they are united in their decision to raise her together._

_“We know some people might look unfavourably on us because of our youth,” Clark says. “But you shouldn’t punish my dad because we made a mistake. Or for the decisions we made about our daughter.”_

_“It’s not like we’ve kept things from people on purpose,” Lois adds. “What we choose to tell people is our business and no one else’s.”_

_The couple, who are both students at Kansas A &M, plan to marry in a few years, once they have graduated college._

_Jonathan and his wife Martha admit they were less than impressed when they learned about their grand-daughter, but are proud of their son for stepping up and taking responsibility._

_“I’m sure every parent would feel the same,” Mr Kent says. “You raise your children and hope that they never get themselves into trouble, but sometimes there is just nothing you can do but accept that these things happen. You can choose to continue to be angry, or you can choose to stand by your child’s decision. We chose to stand by our son, and Lois, who has become a welcome part of our family.”_

_Mr Kent chose to run for Kansas state senate when his longtime friend, Jack Jennings, chose to step down following revelations that Senator Jennings was embroiled in a scandal involving adultery and the murder of a young stripper._

_The 45-year-old farmer is running against businessman and Luthorcorp CEO Lex Luthor. Mr Luthor took over the company seat when his father, Lionel was tried for murder. While he was convicted, that conviction was overturned due to a technicality._

**_SENATE CANDIDATE UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR ALLEGED KIDNAP_ **

_Daily Planet staff reporter_   
_December 26, 2005_   
_Metropolis, KS_

_Metropolis Police confirmed today that candidate for Kansas state senate Lex Luthor has been questioned in regard to an incident involving the grandchild of his opponent Jonathan Kent._

_Documents obtained from undisclosed sources say a couple was arrested earlier this month and charged with kidnapping the toddler._

_It is believed the toddler had been with her aunt in a park near Smallville Inn when she was abducted. The parents, Clark Kent and Lois Lane, tracked the location of their daughter and were able to retrieve her without further incident._

_Police lieutenant Maggie Sawyer told this reporter that the alleged kidnappers were identified by the toddler’s aunt and were arrested, thanks to the quick actions of Kent and Lane, both journalism students at Kansas A &M._

_“While we certainly do not condone them taking matters into their own hands, I am thankful for the quick resolution in this case,” Lieutenant Sawyer said._

_Attorney for Mr Luthor, David Rygalski, told reporters that one of the alleged kidnappers claimed they were paid by someone purportedly working for Luthorcorp to take the child to a research facility owned by famed paediatric researcher Dr Frederick Loman._

_“Mr Luthor denies any involvement in this incident. Luthorcorp has been funding Dr Loman’s research into children’s disorders, but that is the extent of the relationship. He wishes it to be known that he is appalled at this incident and continues to hold Clark and his family in high regard.”_

_Recent polls in the race for the Senate seat show Mr Kent’s popularity is climbing, although he is still trailing behind Mr Luthor._

**_KENT’S HEARTLAND SPEECH WINS OVER THE CROWD_ **

_Tim Brennan_   
_Daily Planet Political correspondent_   
_January 13, 2006_   
_Metropolis, KS_

_‘Putting the heart back into the heartland’ might have earned a standing ovation from the crowd at Jonathan Kent’s campaign rally, but it was the appearance of his grand-daughter that proved the biggest draw of the night._

_There were laughs aplenty as little Kally Lane-Kent showed her support for ‘Grandpa’ by toddling onto the stage and waving to the crowd. At which point Mr Kent scooped her up._

_The audience laughed with delight as the proud grandfather proceeded to have a conversation with the toddler._

_“Who’s going to win?” he was heard to ask._

_“Grampa!”_

_It was a family affair as Mr Kent’s wife, Martha, son Clark, Lois Lane and her family were also present to support the candidate._

_Despite a bumpy start to his campaign, Mr Kent’s honest and forthright approach, as well as his clear commitment to his family, has won over voters and it appears he may be in the lead as they head to the polls in 13 days’ time._

_The rally was only slightly marred by reports of gunshots which sent the crowd running for cover._

_A woman was taken into custody by police shortly after the rally, charged with murder. It is believed the woman was the leader of a Central Kansas A &M group supporting Mr Kent’s opponent Lex Luthor._

_Mr Luthor’s own campaign has taken some serious hits amid rumours of financial mismanagement._

_Last month, police confirmed Mr Luthor was also the subject of an investigation into the alleged kidnapping of Kally Lane-Kent._

**_KENT WINS BY A LANDSLIDE_ **

_Tim Brennan_   
_Daily Planet Political Correspondent_   
_January 27, 2006_   
_Metropolis, KS_

_It was the race that captured, if not the nation, certainly the mid-west. Two opponents who could not have been more disparate. The billionaire and the farmer. The young CEO versus the father and grandfather._

_Jonathan Kent’s family have owned land in the town of Smallville for generations. He is a pillar of his community. A good man with a big heart who believed that people like him were the backbone of his community._

_Lex Luthor, on the other hand, was brought up the son of a rich man in the city of Metropolis. Raised among his peers, the epitome of the trust fund kids, his teenaged years plagued by rebellion, he may have sought to wipe the slate clean in Smallville when he moved there in 2001._

_One can only speculate and the point is rather moot, as they say._

_The twist in this story is that Clark Kent and Lex Luthor built up what it seems is a very unlikely friendship._

_When asked for details on this friendship, locals are curiously tight-lipped. However, research uncovers that Clark saved Lex Luthor’s life when the latter’s car went off a bridge._

_The Luthors have not been a popular addition to the population of Smallville. In 1989, Lionel Luthor purchased a creamed-corn factory and gutted it to turn it into a fertiliser plant. Luthorcorp was then just an agricultural company but has since diversified._

_The Luthorcorp plant has been the subject of several investigations by the EPA for alleged violations – none of which could be proven._

_Two years ago, Lionel Luthor was under investigation by the FBI for various criminal activities and was subsequently convicted. Following his incarceration, his son took over the position._

_Lex Luthor is considered highly ambitious and is known to admire historical figures such as Alexander the Great. Given such aspirations, it is little wonder he chose to enter into politics at the age of 25._

_However, that youth and inexperience may have just been what the doctor didn’t order._

_When his campaign began, Jonathan Kent was considered the underdog. A man with little political experience, and the least likely to fit the image of a senator._

_Yet perhaps that is exactly what the voters were looking for. Someone who understood his constituents in ways that a young man born into wealth and privilege could never possibly achieve._

_Whatever the reason, it remains to be seen whether the newly-elected Senator Jonathan Kent will live up to his early promise._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did do something similar in another story but I liked the idea of following events by way of a news article. Some questions will be answered in a following chapter.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A party is held.

“Chloe!”

Lois waved at her cousin as the blonde came through the door of the Talon. Chloe waved back and came over to the table.

“Hi,” she greeted with a grin. “Clark not with you?”

“He sent me a text saying he’s running late but he’ll be here.”

It had been a whirlwind couple of weeks. After Jonathan had won the senate seat he and Martha had been back and forth to Topeka meeting with the Governor and learning everything he needed to know about his new job.

Clark was also kept busy managing the farm. They’d had to hire a couple of farmhands just to cover all the jobs Jonathan did, so that Clark could keep up with the work both on the farm and at school. He’d been delayed at school as the Gazette had wanted to talk to him about his father’s new role.

Chloe held out her arms for Kally and the toddler sat on her lap eager for cuddles.

“Hi, sweet girl,” she said. She looked at Lois. “I guess it’s been really busy for you guys.”

“Clark, mostly,” Lois said. “But we knew that would happen once his dad took the seat.”

She was still amazed at how everything had come together. Just before Christmas, Maggie Sawyer had informed them that one of the kidnappers had confessed everything, even telling police that they had been paid by someone in Luthorcorp.

No one knew what had happened to change the woman’s mind. All they knew was that she had been released on bail and had gone to the precinct a few days later to confess everything.

Clark and Lois had turned down Lionel’s ‘deal’, in the end deciding that it wasn’t worth the price of whatever he would no doubt demand in return. Proof had also arrived on Maggie Sawyer’s desk in the form of a thumb drive containing records of financial transactions between the woman’s account and an account in Luthorcorp.

It hadn’t been enough to prove that Lex had been behind the scheme, and Dr Loman had continued to stick with the story he’d concocted, but it had been enough to get the police to question Lex.

What had been even better was that Jonathan’s campaign had received an endorsement, thanks to Lois’ father’s contact in Queen Industries. The surprise was that the endorsement had come from the CEO himself, Oliver Queen. While he lived in another state, he’d maintained that he had business interests in Kansas so was entitled to make the endorsement.

Chloe took Kally with her to the counter to order herself a coffee. By the time she returned, Clark had come in. Kally immediately abandoned Chloe for her dad, whom she hadn’t seen for a couple of days.

“Daddy!”

Chloe pouted. “Well, I feel special,” she said, handing over the toddler.

Clark grinned. “What can I say? She likes me better,” he added with a cheeky grin.

“You’ll get yours, Kent.”

Lois laughed at her cousin’s pretence at jealousy. Chloe adored Kally but knew the toddler was the apple of her father’s eye.

After the article had come out, there had been a little negative feedback, mostly from older people who considered themselves the authority on morality and family values, but the united front from both Clark’s parents and Bubsy and Lois’ father had made it clear where they stood on the issue. As far as Lois was concerned, it was no one’s business but their own.

“So, how is it being the son of a senator?” Chloe asked.

Clark shrugged. “Other than working twice as hard on the farm, it’s pretty much normal.”

“Did you hear Steve Lombard has been offered a job at the Daily Planet?” Chloe continued. “Guess they liked his article.”

“He did a good job,” Lois told her cousin. “At least we got to air our side of things.”

The door to the coffee shop opened and Lex strode in. The man had been understandably cool toward them since losing the election.

The day before Christmas, they’d heard that Lex had been shot in Granville. His wallet and a watch had been stolen, so police had called it a mugging. One of the bullets had come very close to his spinal cord and he could have ended up in a wheelchair. The surgery performed had been very risky, but Lionel had apparently insisted. Chloe had commented that the elder Luthor would never have tolerated a son who was weak.

Given what Clark knew about Lex’s childhood, with his asthma and the cold way his father had treated him, Lois wasn’t surprised at the man’s attitude.

Lex went up to the counter, clearly ordering something. He turned to look at them as he waited for his coffee. Lois turned back to her cousin, focusing her attention on the conversation.

“Clark. Lois.”

Clark looked up. “Oh, hey, Lex. How’s it going?”

The bald man shrugged. “It’s going. Look, uh, tell your father … congratulations. I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier.”

Lois bit back a snort of disgust. She knew from someone who worked at the Luthor mansion that Lex had got himself so drunk the night of the election that he’d had to be carried to bed.

“I’ll tell him,” Clark returned.

If their friendship hadn’t been rocky before, the election result was the final nail in the coffin. There was no way Lex and Clark could just brush it off and continue being friends after what had happened. Lois was sure Lex was secretly furious with them, and felt it was somehow their doing that he’d been investigated by the police over his involvement in the kidnapping. Which had then meant that the voters had begun to doubt his ability to serve them honestly. It was the old ‘where there’s smoke there’s fire’ idea.

Kally let out a loud burp, then giggled. Lex looked disgusted.

“Good to see you’re teaching your kid some manners,” he scoffed.

“She’s not even two, Lex,” Clark told him.

Lois secretly thought her daughter was showing her dislike for the bald man. She was clinging to her father and making faces at Lex. Chloe tried to look scandalised but Lois could see her cousin’s mouth twitching.

Lex turned and walked out without saying goodbye. Chloe snorted.

“It’s true then. Kids can sense evil.”

Lois chuckled and reached over to tickle her daughter. “Good job, sweetie.”

“Don’t encourage her,” Clark admonished.

“You have to admit that was pretty funny though,” Chloe told him.

Clark snickered. “Yeah, you’re right. That was pretty funny.”

“So, what did you find out?” Lois asked.

Chloe had offered to look further into Dr Loman and try to prove that Lex had been behind the testing on Kally.

“Not much, to be honest. I tried tracking down one of the people you described, but I didn’t have much to go on. I mean, we can assume they’ve worked for Dr Loman for years, but it’s not going to help.”

“What about the woman who took Kally?”

Chloe shook her head at Clark’s query. “Unfortunately, once she’d confessed all to the police, she lawyered up and refuses to speak to anyone. My guess is, she’s scared. Of what, I don’t know.”

“I wonder who got her to confess?” Lois mused.

“I don’t know, but I really want to find out,” Chloe replied. “Um, so anyway, I heard Oliver Queen’s going to be at the party on Saturday.”

Clark sighed. Lois knew he really didn’t want to go to the party. Most of the who’s who of Metropolis society would be there. Including Lex. His parents had told him he had to go as there would be some interest in them.

She was keen to meet Oliver Queen, as most of the communication with the Star City billionaire had been via email or phone, and only through Jonathan or his press secretary. Chloe had done her best to investigate the man’s background while they’d been considering the man’s offer. Of course, her father had told her the company was above board, but he’d never actually met the man either.

Robert and Moira Queen had been on a business trip to South Korea in 1989 when the plane had gone down in the Pacific. Their bodies had never been recovered and no one knew what had really happened on the plane. The federal agencies had done an investigation but without the ‘black box’ they’d had to conclude that there had been an accident. They’d waited the requisite seven years and declared the couple dead.

Oliver had been raised by a nanny, inheriting his parents’ estate at sixteen. Chloe had found out he’d gone to Excelsior Preparatory Academy, the same private school Lex had attended, but hadn’t been able to get into the man’s records.

Then, when he was eighteen, Oliver had left Star City on his family’s yacht, only to disappear. When he returned three years later, all he told reporters was that he’d been marooned on an island for those years. After five months of recovery from illnesses he’d contracted, he took his father’s seat as CEO of Queen Industries.

There had been a few articles in society columns in the Star City newspapers, where Oliver was depicted as something of a playboy, but there was never anything mentioned about a serious relationship.

Lois had to admit the man was very good-looking, from what she’d seen in photographs. Clark, of course, was immediately jealous when he’d seen the way she’d gazed at those photos and she’d teased him endlessly. He knew she only had eyes for him, but it didn’t stop her from looking.

The evening of the party, Lois’ father was babysitting with Bubsy. The couple had decided to spend a quiet night at the inn watching their favourite old movies. The general and his now-fiancee were taking advantage of the fact there were only one guest at the inn for the weekend.

Lois had gone shopping with Chloe to find herself the perfect dress to wear. Knowing Clark was picking her up at six-thirty that evening, she made sure to time things so she would be ready.

She showered and wrapped a towelling robe around her as she began to put on her make-up. Clark was the type of guy who preferred a natural look but since tonight was going to be an important night for her future parents-in-law, Lois decided she had to look extra good.

She finished putting on her make-up in record time and changed into the dress. It was full-length silk in a dark cream with a halter neck. The bodice was decorated with small crystal beads, the line just enough to give a peek of cleavage. The dress had cost her nearly a month’s wages, but it was worth it, she thought, if it got Clark’s temperature rising.

She sat in front of the mirror again, playing with her hair, wondering if she should put it up or leave it down. Putting it in a French knot would be nice, she thought, as it would emphasise her long neck, but leaving it down would feel more comfortable. She settled for something in-between, leaving half of it down while the other half was in a loose knot at the back of her head. Finally, she dabbed on some light perfume Clark had got her for her birthday.

She glanced at her phone, noting it was six-twenty-five. Just in time, she thought.

She left her room and went into the inn. Kally was sitting on her grandfather’s lap while Bubsy could be heard in the dining room.

“Wow, Mommy, pretty!”

Lois smiled at her daughter. Her father gazed at her.

“You look beautiful, sweetheart. Are you nervous about tonight?”

“No. I don’t know. I just hope I don’t say the wrong thing and make it look bad for Jonathan. You know I tend to shoot my mouth off, sometimes.”

“Well, don’t worry too much about that, sweetheart. You speak your mind and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Sam’s right, honey,” Bubsy said, coming back in. She put a tray down on the table in front of the general. “And you do look lovely,” she added, gazing at her.

The front door opened and Clark came in, wearing a suit and tie. Lois grinned at him.

“Well, Smallville, don’t you clean up nice.”

He just stood in the doorway, staring at her, his mouth partially open. Lois began to feel a little uncomfortable, but couldn’t help the quip she uttered next.

“Stunned is a good look for you, Smallville!” He made a face at her before he replied.

“You look … amazing!” he said.

She did a brief curtsey. “Thank you, kind sir.”

“What time are you planning on bringing her home?” Bubsy asked.

Lois chuckled. “You two aren’t even married yet and you’re acting like my mom. I love it.”

Her future stepmother looked a little uncertain. “I meant …”

“I know what you meant,” Lois told her kindly, going over to give her a kiss on the cheek.

Her father looked at Bubsy. “She’s just teasing, honey,” he said.

The older woman blushed. “I suppose I’m going to have to get used to that,” she said. The general smiled at her before looking at Clark.

“But you better make sure she’s home at a decent time, young man.”

“Yes sir,” Clark said, picking Kally up in his arms. “You be good for your grandparents,” he told her. “Goodnight sweetheart.”

“G’night Daddy.”

The function was being held at the Grand Hotel in Metropolis. Clark’s parents had been picked up by a limousine so their car was free for Clark to drive to the city. He’d thought it would look better than pulling up in the farm truck.

Lois fiddled with the radio, wanting to break the silence between them. She could tell her boyfriend was feeling a little nervous.

She found a station that played the kind of music she liked to listen to. On one of their dates, she had dragged Clark to a karaoke bar and requested Whitesnake songs every chance she got. Clark had told her he was no fan of the band, but he would listen to it because she loved it.

The group had been her mother’s favourite. One of her earliest memories was of dancing in the living room of the house they’d been living in at the time. Since they had always lived in whatever base housing they’d been assigned, they had never really felt like home, but her mother had somehow managed to make it special for her and Lucy.

Her mother had put on the music and held her hands while they’d twirled around and around until they’d fallen to the floor, giggling.

She’d woken up late one night and gone downstairs to hear music softly playing. Her parents had their arms around each other and they were swaying gently. For the young Lois, it was almost magical. She could still recall the sad smile on her mother’s face as they danced. Looking back, she realised it was resignation. Her father had been gone the next day on a mission and wouldn’t return for two weeks. Ella had tried to carry on as normal but Lois knew she always feared there would be a day when her husband would never come back.

At least that was something Lois knew she didn’t have to worry about with Clark so much. One day, of course, he would have to take on the mantle of the superhero, and she would have to share him with the world, but at least there was less of a chance that he could get hurt.

The station began playing a song she liked and she sang along softly.

“Don’t do that,” Clark said.

She stopped. “What? Don’t sing?” She frowned.

“No. Don’t sing so softly. I love your voice. I know when you’re singing, you’re happy.”

Lois would never have considered herself a ‘sappy’ kind of girl, but she always got a warm feeling inside when he said something that told her just how much he knew her. Music had helped her get through her mother’s death and the lonely years since then. She’d never been able to join a choir at school but had still found a way to sing.

She shifted closer to him and he squeezed her hand.

“I am happy,” she said.

Who would have thought it nearly three years ago, she mused silently. That she would find the love of her life in Metropolis? Or that somehow they could both heal years of hurt. She had had no doubt at the time that Clark had been in pain. Maybe the incident that had driven him to run away had only been recent, now that she knew everything about him, she knew it had only been the last in a series of painful events that had led to it.

She drifted, thinking of everything that had happened since that meeting. Who knew, she thought, that one little mistake could lead her back to him?

Clark pulled up in front of the valet parking at the hotel and showed his ticket to the teenager who had obviously been employed for the evening. The young woman was dressed smartly in black pants, crisp white shirt and a red vest.

They got out of the car and walked together into the hotel, holding hands. A sign at the bottom of a grand staircase told them to head upstairs to the ballroom. The Grand had been built in the mid-nineteenth century and a placard proclaimed it to be the first hotel in the then-fledgling city. Lois marvelled at the grand columns. While there had been various disasters since the hotel’s construction, each rebuild had incorporated as much of the old architecture as possible.

They were greeted at the door to the ballroom by a man in a tuxedo suit.

“Your invitation, sir?” the man asked.

Clark handed over the card. “Clark Kent. This is my partner, Lois Lane.”

“Yes, sir. Welcome. The senator and your mother have already arrived.”

“Thank you,” Clark said politely as the doorman stood aside to let them enter.

Lois was overwhelmed by the crowd of people in the ballroom. She didn’t know how many people had been invited to the event, but it looked like at least a hundred, she thought.

“Lex and Lionel are here,” Clark murmured, nodding his head in the direction of the far corner. Lois followed his gaze and saw Lex’s bald head. Lionel stood beside him, pretending to idly chat to a dark-haired man only slightly shorter than him. The elder Luthor was good at hiding his emotions but his mask slipped when he thought he wasn’t being watched.

Someone bumped into Lois from behind and she turned.

“Excuse me,” the man said.

She studied him, her eyes widening as she realised the towheaded man was none other than Oliver Queen. She quickly nudged Clark, who was still trying to find his parents.

“Mr Queen,” she said.

The other man looked at her, obviously a little nonplussed.

“I’m sorry. You are?”

“Lois Lane.”

He smiled broadly. “Oh, of course. I’ve been wanting to meet you and your partner.” He turned to Clark, who had turned to face him. “You must be Clark,” he added, holding out a hand to shake her boyfriend’s hand.

“Yes sir,” Clark said politely.

“Oliver, please,” the blond returned. “Your father’s told me so much about you I feel like I know you already.”

The man’s demeanour was warm and friendly. It was the complete opposite of the first time she had met Lex Luthor. Despite their connection, and the fact that they were two of the richest men in the country, Oliver appeared modest where his former schoolmate was arrogant.

Yet despite the friendliness, Lois remained wary. She couldn’t help but feel that the man was sizing Clark up somehow.

Oliver helped himself to a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter. He looked at them as the man paused.

“Oh, right. You’re too young to drink. Wouldn’t want to break the law, now would we? Especially not in front of the press.”

Lois frowned, following the man’s brown-eyed gaze to an older man who had clearly been watching them. He had sandy-coloured hair which was thinning on top.

Oliver asked the waiter to bring them glasses of orange juice while the other man approached them. Lois noticed he was holding a glass of orange juice.

“Clark Kent,” the man said.

Clark appeared almost startled. “Mr White?”

The man grinned. “Yes sir,” he said. “Glad to see you remembered me. This must be your partner, Lois.” He bowed slightly. “Miss Lane.”

She frowned. She had heard of the name Perry White. Chloe had talked about him, saying he was a veteran reporter. Some years ago, he had practically dropped out of sight.

“You two know each other?” she asked.

“It’s a long story,” Clark said. “I ran into Mr White when he was working for a show called … X-Styles, wasn’t it?”

“Like X-Files?” Lois asked, having seen the sci-fi drama.

“No, not quite,” the older man said. “X-Styles investigated strange phenomena. I’d heard a few things about Smallville and was in town to investigate when Clark almost literally ran into me.” He made a face. “Of course, I was a different man back then.” He lifted his glass. “As you can see, I’m off the sauce. Have been since the day I almost got us both killed out at Saunder’s Gorge.”

“You are going to have to tell me that story, Smallville,” Lois murmured. Her boyfriend nodded.

They were briefly distracted when a waiter returned with glasses of orange juice for them. Oliver had already disappeared into the crowd.

“So, Mr White, what brings you here?” Clark asked.

“I’m covering this shindig for the Daily Planet. Congrats, by the way. It’s good to see somebody winning against the Luthors.” He scowled, looking over in the direction of Lionel and Lex.

“Now you really have to fill me in,” Lois told Clark.

“There isn’t much to tell,” Perry said. “Lionel tried to railroad my career when he found out I had enough dirt on him to write an expose. He almost succeeded too.”

Lois heard Jonathan’s deep voice as he laughed at something and figured the couple were close by. She listened as Clark chatted with Mr White, telling him about his college studies. Perry was clearly impressed.

“Well, there you are,” Jonathan said. “Lois, you look beautiful,” he added as he bent to kiss her cheek.

“Thank you, Senator,” she said with a grin. She looked at Martha, who was wearing a dress in dark gold with a matching jacket. “Martha, you look amazing!”

“So do you, sweetheart.” She looked at Perry. “My goodness. Perry White! I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Well, Mrs Kent, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and do the gruntwork yourself. Congratulations, Senator.”

“Mr White,” Jonathan said, holding out his hand for the reporter to shake. “I see you’re working for the Daily Planet now.”

“I wouldn’t have had that without your son. Meeting him all those years ago turned out to be quite the wake-up call.”

Now Lois’ curiosity was even more piqued.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark and Lois meet a new face.

Clark looked around the ballroom for his girlfriend. He’d had to leave her for a few moments and she’d been talking with his parents when he’d last seen her. He frowned, wondering where she’d got to.

“Ahh, Clark, I was wondering when we’d be seeing you.”

Clark sighed softly, hearing the smooth tones of the elder Luthor. He turned and looked at the older man.

“Mr Luthor,” he said coolly.

“I wanted to congratulate your father on his election win, but it seems he is rather popular this evening.”

Clark nodded, glancing over to where his father was surrounded by admirers.

“It must be quite gratifying,” Lionel commented.

“What?”

“That the better man won.”

He cocked an eyebrow at Lex’s father. The man had always been hard on his son, to the point of cruelty.

“I don’t think it’s a case of my dad being the better man,” Clark told him. “And I would have thought you’d have supported Lex.”

“Not when it’s to the detriment of my company.”

Typical. The man had lost Luthorcorp as a result of his own machinations yet he still thought of it as his. Clark dearly wanted to berate the man but decided to stay silent. The last thing he wanted was to get caught in the middle of a battle between father and son.

“You know, I was disappointed you and young Lois decided to decline my offer. I’m surprised the young woman eventually chose to confess her part in the scheme to the police after all.”

“What exactly are you trying to suggest, Lionel? That you perhaps had a hand in it?”

The man snickered. “Hardly. When you declined to work with me, I washed my hands of the entire thing. It all turned out rather fortuitous for you, though.”

“The woman kidnapped my daughter,” Clark told him. “And if you’re going to stand there and make some kind of judgemental comment …”

“I would certainly hope not,” a voice cut in. “What is it they say, Mr Luthor, about those who live in glass houses should not be throwing stones?”

Clark turned to look at the dark-haired man he’d seen chatting with Lex and Lionel earlier.

“You wouldn’t be suggesting I’m a hypocrite, now would you, Mr Wayne?”

The man’s smile was forced. “At least Mr Kent here chose to take responsibility for his mistakes. Something I find rather admirable, don’t you?”

The man’s dark eyes glared pointedly at the bearded Luthor. Lionel seemed to beat a hasty retreat.

“Of course, of course. Uh, please excuse me.” He turned and walked away.

The newcomer held out a hand for Clark to shake. “Bruce Wayne,” he said. “I apologise for interrupting the conversation but if there is one thing I cannot stand it’s someone who judges another for their mistakes when they refuse to take responsibility for their own.”

Clark shook his head and smiled. “It’s fine.” He frowned. He knew the name but little else. “I’m sorry, but what brings you to Metropolis?”

“I have some business interests here in the city and I’m currently negotiating a takeover of a small company. Plus, I finagled an invitation. I was curious to meet the charismatic new senator. You must be very proud of your father.”

Clark smiled. “I am.”

“Your father is certainly very proud of you.”

Lois walked up to them, curling her hand around his arm.

“There you are, Smallville. I thought you’d gotten lost. Mr Wayne,” she added coolly.

Clark frowned at her, wondering why the tone when Bruce appeared to be very friendly. The other man seemed to sense his confusion.

“Ah, that was my fault, I’m afraid. I was attempting to flirt with your lovely girlfriend, not knowing who she was. I very quickly learnt it was not the best idea to flirt with Lois Lane. She very vehemently told me she was taken. May I say, Mr Kent, you are a very lucky man indeed. Your partner is as charming as she is beautiful.”

Clark wrapped his arm around her waist and smiled at her before turning back to the other man.

“You’re right, Mr Wayne. I’m very lucky.”

Bruce continued chatting to them, appearing very friendly. Yet Clark began to get the same feeling that Lois had got about Oliver Queen earlier. That the older man had initiated conversation in an attempt to size him up. The more they talked, the more he got the impression that Bruce’s earlier ‘faux pas’ with Lois had been completely deliberate. He’d not only known who she was, he’d been testing her somehow.

The conversation gradually got around to Kally and the incident.

“I hope your daughter wasn’t too frightened by her ordeal,” Bruce said solicitously.

Lois shrugged. “She’s fine. I mean, I think she had a couple of nightmares not long after, but she seems okay now.”

That had probably been his fault, Clark thought. Lois had told him Kally had been crying for her daddy in her sleep. He’d realised he never should have been so destructive, especially in front of the toddler, but he’d been so angry it was as if he’d been on red K. It was little wonder she had been confused and frightened, even though none of it had been aimed at her. Lois had assured him that she didn’t blame him at all for doing what he’d done.

“I heard the case is going to trial in a couple of weeks. As much as I hate to agree with someone like Luthor, it is rather fortuitous that the young woman responsible for your daughter’s kidnapping confessed when she did.”

Lois and Clark had been told about the court case by Maggie Sawyer. She had confided that she doubted it would take very long, since one of the kidnappers had confessed and was pleading guilty. They were unlikely to be needed at the hearing, but she’d told them to be on standby, just in case.

Clark couldn’t help feeling a little suspicious at the way Bruce had mentioned the case. It felt almost as if he knew more than he was saying. It was strange and a little disconcerting.

The evening wore on and Clark lost track of who they’d met. It was almost two in the morning by the time they met his parents. His father handed him a hotel key. They’d booked a room, knowing it would be a late night. Lois’ father had also made plans to stay at the inn overnight.

“We’ll be right next door,” his dad said.

“Thanks Dad. We’ll see you in the morning.”

The room was not huge but Clark didn’t really care. He watched as Lois grabbed her overnight bag and went off to the bathroom to change. He looked at the queen size bed, wondering which side she liked to sleep on. Her bed at the inn was rather narrow so they usually slept curled up together.

He turned down the bedclothes, fiddling with them a little. He heard the water shut off in the bathroom and stood waiting, with no idea why he was feeling so nervous.

Lois came out a few moments later, wearing a short nightgown. He’d already seen her in her pyjamas, so this was something new.

She seemed to sense his nervousness as she gestured to the gown. “Too much?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No. You look great.” He looked at the bed. “Um, I wasn’t sure which side you wanted.”

“Any side is fine,” she said.

He nodded. “Okay. I’m just gonna go brush my teeth and change.”

He moved to pass her. Lois caught his hand and looked up at him. She laced their fingers together.

“I had a good time tonight,” she said softly. “And hey, I didn’t even shoot my mouth off.”

He grinned. “Always a good thing.” He bent and kissed her lips gently. “Be back in a sec.”

“No rush,” she replied. “I mean …”

“I know what you meant,” he responded.

He went into the bathroom and changed into a t-shirt and pyjama pants before brushing his teeth. He returned to the bedroom. Lois was in bed, watching him as he came around the other side. He slipped in beside her.

“So, tell me about Perry White,” she said. “I’ve been dying to know what happened. I mean, I know of him through Chloe.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty much her idol,” he told her. He wrapped an arm around her, holding her close. “You sure you’re not too tired?” he asked.

“No. I’m used to staying up this late. So…?”

“Well, as he said, he came to town looking for strange phenomena. Chloe’s Wall of Weird stuff. Anyway, that was the time we had solar flares and my powers acted up. That was pretty much how I realised my powers came from the sun. I was out running – I think I was going to the Talon to meet Pete, and my speed just suddenly quit, right in front of Perry’s car. He swerved to avoid me and hit a power pole.”

“My God! How did you explain all of that?”

“He was drunk at the time. See, Perry’s career had pretty much tanked at that point. That was all thanks to Lionel. As he said, he was working on an expose about Lionel and in revenge, Luthorcorp dragged his name through the mud and he became a full-blown alcoholic.”

He continued to talk, telling her how Perry had basically blackmailed him into taking him around town, since he couldn’t drive. He’d talked to a few people in town, annoyed Lana, who he’d tried to ambush into an interview, caused Lex to go ballistic and had been told to get out by even the sheriff. Thanks to the solar flares, Clark’s powers had continued to act up; unfortunately Perry had somehow been witness to some of those incidents. Convinced Clark was ‘different’, the reporter had set up an ‘accident’ at Saunders Gorge, pretending he was about to jump off. Clark had tried to catch him, only for them both to go over. They would have been at least seriously injured, if not worse.

“Do you think he knows about your abilities?” she asked.

As much as Clark wanted to believe that Perry had put it all down to hallucinations from his drinking, he knew there was only so much he could have explained away.

“I don’t know. Part of me hopes he’s at least forgotten all about it, another part knows he at least suspects something.”

They moved on to the subject of Oliver Queen and Bruce Wayne.

“Do you really think Bruce was flirting with me on purpose?” Lois asked.

“Yeah, I do. There was just something about the guy. I mean, don’t get me wrong. He seemed pretty cool, but it felt like every word he was saying was designed to get some sort of rise out of me. Or both of us. It was kind of like being analysed.”

“I did get that feeling,” she said. “The way he looked at me, it wasn’t like a guy admiring a pretty girl. It was … weird.”

“I think we should do a bit more research on Mr Wayne. And Oliver,” he said.

“You’re right. But not tonight.”

“Yeah, it’s late. We should get some sleep.”

She smiled softly. “Hmm.” She tilted her head and pressed her lips to his. Clark kissed her, rolling her over onto her back.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him with a doe-eyed gaze. “Clark,” she said softly.

He kissed her again, letting his tongue gently explore her mouth. She moaned softly, long eyelashes fanning her cheeks.

He gently pulled away and looked down at her. “Lois …”

“Smallville.” It was normally a tease. A gentle nudge to remind him that no matter how powerful he was, she could still bring him down to Earth with a bump. This time, she uttered it softly. Almost as a plea.

They hadn’t discussed the subject of sex. Even though they were about as committed to each other as an unmarried couple could be, they’d avoided the topic as best they could.

They’d gone as far as they could go in terms of intimacy, without actually doing the deed. Yet, they’d both known it was only a matter of time.

“Are you sure?” he asked her, seeing the same need in her that he’d been feeling in himself.

“I’m sure,” she said. “I got an IUD.”

There were no guarantees, he thought. They’d used protection the first time, but Kally had still been conceived.

Then again, when were there ever guarantees in life?

He kissed her again, slipping the shoestring strap of her nightgown off so he could press kisses to her shoulder. She moaned softly as he sucked gently on her neck, trying not to leave a bruise. Having the blessing of the parents was great, but they didn’t need to see physical evidence of what they got up to.

Lois was pulling at the hem of his shirt and he let her pull it over his head, rolling over onto his side so she could take it all the way off. He tossed it to the floor. She reached for him again, wrapping her arms around him, her hands splayed on his back. He felt her delicate fingers caressing his shoulder blades, tracing the musculature.

Clark could remember the afternoon he and Lana had spent together, the day they’d decided to start dating. They’d made out in the shade of the trees on the farm, stroking each other’s bodies. He’d been almost afraid to go any further with her. Not because they’d both been virgins, but because he’d been worried he might hurt her. Lana had been fine-boned and almost delicate.

He felt no such fear with Lois. It wasn’t just that he’d already proved to himself that he could control his strength with her. As Kal, of course, under the red K, he’d lost any of his inhibitions and when he’d slept with her, he had only really cared about getting what he wanted from her.

In the months they’d been dating, or even before, when he’d met her again and realised he was falling for her, he’d felt nothing but a sense of rightness. Having already experienced intimacy with her, he knew he couldn’t hurt her. He wouldn’t. He cared about her far too much.

He felt her gentle caresses as she moved to exploring the muscles on his chest. He rolled onto his back, pulling her with him. She smirked a little, reminding him of a quip he’d once made about her preference to be ‘on top’ as she straddled his waist.

She began moving, teasing him a little, her body rising and falling as she ground against him. Clark grasped her waist, unsure if he wanted to stop her teasing or to control the momentum. Lois grinned at him before pulling her nightgown up and over her head and tossing the garment on the floor. She had chosen to wear only panties underneath, her breasts bobbing enticingly above him.

He remembered the night she’d pretended to be a stripper. As mortified as he had been at the time, he hadn’t been able to help peeking at the soft mounds of her breasts beneath the bikini top she’d been wearing. Lois had smirked at him as he’d held a folded twenty dollar note in one hand, propriety keeping him from actually inserting the note beneath the top.

She still held that one over him from time to time.

It was almost as if she could read his mind as she smirked at him once more.

“Not shy are you, Smallville?”

Considering they had gone a lot further than this since that night, shy was not the word.

“You’re a tease, Lane.”

“Yeah?” she taunted. “What’re you gonna do about it?”

He didn’t answer her, instead flipping her over onto her back before burying his face between her breasts. She giggled, combing her fingers through his hair. He felt her pulling on the strands as he took one mound in his mouth, licking and sucking the nipple until it began to tighten with her arousal.

Her hands moved down to his back, her fingernails tracing his muscles. Clark continued laving her breasts, biting gently on the nipples until she gasped and appeared to have a slight spasm. He moved up to kiss her deeply. For a while the only sounds in the room were the occasional grunt and moan as their passion grew.

Lois slipped one hand beneath the elastic band of his pyjama pants and squeezed his buttock. Clark slipped his own hand beneath her panties, stroking her sex. She moaned again.

“Clark.”

He rolled over and off the bed. Lois looked at him.

“What are you …” she began, but he shook his head, removing his pyjama pants. He dug in the side pocket of his own overnight bag and grabbed a small wrapped package. He hadn't really planned anything when he'd packed but had figured it was better to be prepared.

She watched as he quickly ripped the package open and put on the rubber sheath before rejoining her on the bed. Lois had already pulled off her panties once she had realised what he was doing.

He lay on his back so she could straddle him, holding her by the waist while she slowly lowered herself onto him. He let her control the motion as she took him inside her. She began to move, faster and faster as she adjusted to his size.

“Clark, god, please, can’t …” she panted.

He rolled over once more, thrusting inside her until she cried out, her body shuddering as she came. He held her through the spasms, his own body releasing a short time after.

She lay in his arms, her chest almost heaving as she recovered her breath.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “I’m fine.” She looked up at him. “That was … different.”

He frowned at her. “Different? How?”

“Better than last time. I mean, I knew you were a virgin then. You were kind of … rough. Clumsy, sort of. I’m not explaining it right.”

“No, it’s okay. I understand what you mean. Lo, you have to know that when I’m on red K, I don’t really care about anything except what I want. If I hurt you then, I’m sorry.”

“It didn’t hurt. Not really. It’s just … I mean, just now, it was hot and all that but it wasn’t like you were trying to prove something. It probably sounds crazy, but before, it was just … you know, sex. Tonight it was like we were … making love.” She snorted lightly. “That sounds really sappy.”

“No, it doesn’t,” he said. “And you’re right. Last time, it was just sex. But even then, I felt something with you I’d never felt with anyone before. Not even Lana.”

She looked surprised at that. “Not even Lana?”

He shook his head. “With you, it felt like I’d found someone who understood me. Even if I was being a selfish jerk.”

“That wasn’t you,” she said. “That was the red K.”

He bit his lip. “The thing is, those feelings have to come from somewhere. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’d thought about having sex with Lana before that summer. It’s how I learned to control my heat vision. I’d even thought about sex with other girls, but even though I’d met dozens of girls over that summer, you were the only one I felt a strong enough connection with.” He kissed her gently. “That makes you even more special to me, Lois. It’s not just because I love you. It’s because you’ve made me feel like I have a place where I belong. You get me, if that makes sense.”

She nodded. “It does. Because I feel the same way. When I left my dad’s that summer, I wasn’t really thinking about anything but just getting away. It still led me to you. Then when I ran away with Kally, somehow I still ended up running to you. You’re the only person who has ever made me want to be better.”

“I love you, Lo. More than I’ve ever loved anyone.”

“I know,” she said. “I love you too.” She sighed softly. “Do we really have to wait five years to get married?”

He laughed. “I think the parents would have a fit if we moved in together. We made the decision together, Lo.”

“I know,” she said with another sigh, sounding a little frustrated. The decision had been sensible, even if it was frustrating. “It’s just … now that I know how good it can be between us, I don’t know if I could stand being away from you."

“It’s only five years,” he told her. “And trust me, I’m going to want to marry you in five days or in five years. That’s how much I believe in us.”

She buried her face in his chest but was grinning when she looked up at him again.

“Smallville, that has to be the sappiest thing you’ve ever said to me. But I love it.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You do, do you?”

She had a mischievous smirk on her face. “Want me to show you how much?” she said.

She slid down in the bed and proceeded to do so.

Neither of them got much sleep that night.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois has a run-in with Dr Loman.

Lois had been trying to get an interview for a couple of days with a professor who seemed to enjoy giving her the runaround. It was for an article for the Gazette on some kind of academic competition. She had checked the man’s office hours but he didn’t seem to keep them.

As she walked back to the newspaper office in frustration, she called her cousin.

“Hey, Chlo.”

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Nothing. The professor ditched me again.”

Her cousin huffed.

“Ugh, yeah, I used to get the same thing with the teachers in high school. They used to see me coming and walk the other way, but I never let up on them. It just takes persistence, that’s all.”

“I guess. So, have you heard from Lana?”

The brunette had moved to New York a week or so earlier to start the spring term at Columbia University. She would likely have to take summer school to catch up with her classmates, but from what Lois had heard, she was more than ready for the challenge.

It seemed the decision to make the change had been good for her.

“Yeah. She’s all settled in at Columbia. She wondered if we wanted to come up during spring break, spend a couple of days doing a bit of sightseeing.” Chloe paused. “Unless, of course, you and Clark already have plans. I mean, you two seem to be joined at the hip lately.” Her tone was laced with innuendo.

Clark’s parents hadn’t said anything about the night she and Clark had slept together. It was a big concession for the older couple, since they’d initially been concerned the relationship might interfere with their studies.

It had been a couple of weeks since then and they hadn’t slept together again, making the mutual decision to keep the sex to a minimum to avoid the same kind of situation that saw Kally being conceived. The double protection had proved effective and Lois had been relieved to discover she wasn’t pregnant.

They still saw each other every day and went out on dates without Kally every so often. If Clark was busy with the farm, or his other duties, Lois would just take their daughter and spend time with him.

Obviously, the fact that they were spending so much time together was noticeable if Chloe was commenting on it.

“Keep the innuendo to yourself, cuz,” she said. “We are not joined at the hip. And I’d love to spend spring break in New York with you and Lana. Clark can look after Kally while I’m gone.”

Chloe laughed. “You do love bossing him around, don’t you?” she said.

“You bet I do. I have to have some things to hold over him.”

They moved on to talk about other things. Lois was so deep in the conversation she didn’t notice the man watching her until he coughed. Frowning, she turned and stared at the man.

“Uh, Chloe, I have to go,” she said. “Call you later?”

“Yeah, sure. ‘Bye.”

Lois continued to stare at Dr Frederick Loman.

“What are you doing here?” she asked coolly.

“I came to talk to you. About your daughter.”

“If you have something to say about what you did to her, then why don’t you go talk to Lieutenant Sawyer.”

The man scratched his nose and pushed up wire-rimmed spectacles. “I really don’t think the police would want to hear what I have to say,” he said. “I don’t think you would want me to tell them either.”

She gazed at him, trying to figure out what he was implying.

“What do you want?”

“To talk,” he said.

“Did Lex Luthor send you?” she asked, looking around uneasily. She was trying to feel for the buttons on her phone so she could either alert Clark or could record the conversation.

“I have cut all my ties with Mr Luthor after that … debacle.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because we both know your child is … uh, special.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She started to walk away from him. He grasped her arm.

“Please, Miss Lane, do you take me for an idiot? Or a fool? I took blood samples. I know what I saw. That child is … different.”

“Did you tell Lex this?” she asked.

“No. Frankly, when I realised the uniqueness of the child …”

“Kally. Her name is Kally.”

“Yes. Kally. When I realised her uniqueness, I decided that someone like Lex Luthor should never acquire that kind of information.” He took a deep breath. “So, I told him she was completely normal.”

She frowned at him. “Why would you do that? What are you hoping to get out of this?”

“Would you believe me if I said nothing?”

“No, I wouldn’t. People like you always want something.”

He huffed. “Very well. A month ago, I had a visit from someone. He told me he would be able to guarantee funding for a project dear to my heart if I cut all ties with Lex Luthor, and Luthorcorp.”

She listened as he related what had happened. A man in a green hood had intercepted him in the parking lot of his research lab in Metropolis late one night. The hooded man had aimed an arrow at him, telling him that he knew of Dr Loman’s unethical research projects. The paediatric researcher had a chance to change. If he refused to do so, the hooded man would ruin him.

“So, it looks like this guy has a conscience after all,” she told Clark an hour or so later at the farm. Kally was playing with her toys in the living room while they had sat down with some coffee. Shelby was laying on the floor beside her, pretending he was sleeping, but obviously keeping an eye on her.

“He told me that he’d looked into Lex’s losing his hair when he was a child and even then, Lex was … kind of weird. Like he wasn’t all there, or something. Anyway, he was doing a lot of research into child illnesses and in return for funding from Luthorcorp, Lionel wanted him to work with another doctor on a couple of experimental studies. There was this kid named … Byron, I think.”

Clark stared at her. “Byron Moore?”

“You know about him?” Lois asked.

Clark nodded. “Byron was this kid Lana and I met sophomore year. He would leave poems for her out by the cemetery. He was kind of lonely. His parents had to keep him locked up in their basement because when he got into the light he turned into some kind of monster.”

Lois frowned. “Like a sort of Jekyll and Hyde?”

“Yeah, something like that. Anyway, we didn’t know any of this and we tried to help him, only when we got Byron out, he changed. He went after Lionel, attacked him. Mom had just started this job as Lionel’s assistant, and she was in the helicopter with him when Byron brought it down.”

“Oh my god,” she said.

“Chloe found out he was part of this experiment at Metron Pharmaceuticals, which, incidentally, was owned by Lionel. Something to do with antisocial behaviour.”

Poor Byron, she thought. It sounded like the kid never got a break.

“So, what else did Dr Loman say?”

“Just that he was leaving Metropolis. He wants us to drop the digging into his involvement with Luthorcorp. He said we won’t like what we’ll find and Lex can be vindictive. He’s seen it first-hand. Knowing what he knows about Kally, he doesn’t think we’d want to risk her.”

It had sounded more like a threat to her, but the doctor had told her he was more afraid of Lex than of what he’d learned about Kally and despite what he’d done, he did have some morals. The thought of what Lex would do to an innocent child was more than he could stand.

Clark appeared thoughtful as he cradled his coffee cup. Kally was singing to herself and he glanced over at her for a moment.

“Well, I hate to say it, but he’s right. I wouldn’t want to take the risk of someone finding out about her.”

“So, you think we should drop it?”

“Where the good doctor is concerned, yes. Where Lex is concerned? No. I’m never going to want to stop proving he’s behind a lot of things.”

It was a shame, Lois thought. Clark had thought the world of Lex just a few short years ago. Now it looked like they’d gone from best friends to enemies. She knew why. He was very protective of his daughter and woe betide anyone who tried to hurt her.

She tapped her own coffee cup. “I’m thinking …”

“You’re not thinking of investigating this hooded guy, are you? I mean, he did do us a favour.”

“Sure, but why though? I mean, what could he possibly have to gain from helping us?”

Clark bit his lip. “Look at it this way: do I gain anything from helping other people?”

“Well, not everyone’s soft like you, Smallville.”

He half-scowled at her. “You calling me soft?” he asked.

“You bet I am. You’re a big softy.” She leaned over to kiss him. “That’s why I love you.”

“Dodged a bullet there, Lane.”

She laughed. “Sure I did. You wouldn’t do anything.”

“Why? Because I’m too soft on you?”

“Not where it counts,” she replied, dropping her gaze.

He made a low growl and his eyes turned amber for a moment. “Playing with fire there, Miss Lane.”

“Literally, it seems,” she responded.

“Not in front of the baby,” he told her, again glancing at Kally who was now climbing all over a very patient golden retriever.

“Party pooper,” she said with a snort. “Anyway, back to what I was saying, I think it’s worth checking out.”

Clark made a face. “Do I have any kind of choice?” he asked.

“Now, what do you think?” she returned.

“Rhetorical question.” He wrinkled his nose at her. “You just love bossing me around, don’t you?”

Lois laughed again. That was exactly what Chloe had said an hour or so before.

“When do your mom and dad get back from Topeka?”

The senator had had to go to an education summit and Martha had gone with him, since there was going to be a dinner afterwards where spouses were invited to attend.

“Sunday,” he said. “Why?”

“I was thinking we could spend Saturday researching this hooded guy. See what we can dig up.”

“I kind of already made plans,” he said. “There’s a carnival in Granville. I thought we could take Kally.”

“We won’t be spending all day there, surely,” she replied. “I mean, how long can a two-year-old last?”

“I guess that’s true,” he conceded. “We could go to Granville around noon, have lunch at the diner and then go to the carnival.”

She nodded. “Sounds like a plan. I could come over about nine. You should be done with the chores by then so we can do some research on the laptop.”

Clark had just finished his chores when he heard Lois’ car practically speeding down the driveway on Saturday morning. It was still quite grey overhead but they’d been having reasonably warm days for late winter and he was sure the clouds would soon be replaced by blue sky.

He took his gloves off as he went out.

“You might want to try slowing down some,” he admonished her as she got out of the car.

“Sorry, but I’m mad as hell,” she told him.

He frowned at her. “Why are you mad?”

“Give me a sec and I’ll show you.” She grabbed her bag and a newspaper from the front seat while Clark released his daughter from the harness and lifted her from the booster seat.

As soon as he placed her on the ground, she ran off to find Shelby, calling for the dog as she went. She disappeared inside the barn, but came back out a few seconds later.

“Daddy, Shelby’s not there.”

“He’s probably out chasing squirrels, sweetie,” he said. He picked her up and walked with her into the house.

“But I wanna play,” she protested.

“How about some chocolate chip cookies instead? Fresh-baked today.” The toddler clapped her hands enthusiastically.

Lois turned to look at him. “You bake cookies?” she asked.

He rolled his eyes at her. “I can cook you know, Lane.” Even Kally aimed a sceptical look his way. “Okay, okay, so mom had some cookie dough in the freezer,” he went on. “All I had to do was put the cookies in the oven. It’s not that hard.”

Lois snorted. “Yeah, it is. I burned the pumpkin pie last Thanksgiving.”

He snickered. “Yeah, I remember that pumpkin pie. Even Shelby wouldn’t eat it.” He looked down at his daughter. “Your mom would burn water,” he told her. Kally just grinned up at him.

“Watch it, Smallville. Not like you can talk, since you just said you didn’t even make those cookies,” she added, gesturing toward the cookies on the wire rack.

“Well, excuse me, Miss ‘I’m so bad at cooking I burn simple things’. For your information, I was going to cook dinner tonight.”

Lois looked at him for a long moment, chewing her lip as she considered her options. He knew she wouldn’t turn down a home-cooked dinner and he’d already cooked for them a couple of times. “Okay, I take it back.”

He plopped Kally into a chair, with a booster seat and gave her a glass of milk with a cookie. Lois sat at the table next to the toddler.

“So, what’s got you all fired up?” he asked.

“Have you seen the Journal today?”

He shook his head. They subscribed to the Daily Planet but didn’t usually buy the Metropolis Journal. He remembered Lex telling him he knew the managing editor there, a woman named Carrie Castle.

Bubsy had subscriptions to all the local newspapers, knowing that guests of the Inn would want to keep up with the news from Metropolis.

“What about it?”

Lois opened the newspaper to an editorial.

_VIGILANTES IN OUR CITY_

_It has recently come to my attention that local citizens seem to be taking the law into their own hands._

_I heard of a case where a mystery vigilante stopped a mugging in central Metropolis._

_While I applaud his efforts, I do not believe this kind of action is appropriate when we have a more than adequate police force paid by the city._

_This man, whoever he may be, is taking jobs away from these well-paid civil servants._

_This is not the only report I have heard about this mystery man. There have been several well-documented incidents occurring for the past several months._

_From all reports, the mystery saviour is leaving the scene before he can be identified or acknowledged._

_I wonder, perhaps, if there is a less than altruistic reason he chooses to remain in the shadows._

_He is not the only one, it seems, since there are reported sightings of a man wearing green leather and a hood._

_What do these people hope to gain from their efforts? Are they expecting a reward for good deeds?_

_I’m reminded of the legend of Robin Hood, a mysterious figure who was known for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, yet the truth of this is that he was not as good as he seemed._

_How long will it be before these vigilantes target the wrong person?_

_As a businessman and a concerned citizen I implore the city’s leaders to put an end to such vigilantism before innocent people get hurt._

“He is unbelievable!” Lois said.

“You really think Lex is behind this?” Clark asked.

“Don’t you?” she asked. “I mean, it’s exactly the kind of thing he’d do.”

Clark had to admit, it did sound like Lex. Especially the language. Not quite enough to be inflammatory but sufficient to raise a few eyebrows. Coupled that with the fact that he knew the managing editor and Clark wondered if his old friend was trying to manipulate public opinion in another scheme.

“He’s got some of his facts wrong,” Lois mused aloud. “I mean, the cops in the city are definitely not well-paid. I was talking to Maggie Sawyer and she told me some of the uniformed guys are barely making ends meet.”

“Did you mention that to Dad?” he asked.

She frowned. “Is that really your dad’s job? I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice idea, but if their salaries are paid by the city, wouldn’t they be decided by the city?”

“Not necessarily,” he said. “Not if the base salaries are decided by the state. That would be Dad’s job.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“We can talk to my dad tomorrow,” he said. “Anyway, let’s get set up, since you’re so keen on digging into this hooded guy.”

“You know, we need to come up with a name for him. I mean … hooded guy?”

“Well, what would you suggest?”

“Dr Loman did say he was carrying arrows, and he wears green leather, so … Green Arrow?”

Clark shrugged. It at least was better than calling him ‘hooded man’. He opened up the laptop while Lois put the coffee on. She settled Kally in the living room with some toys, making sure the screen door was shut tight and the security gate was blocking the doorway.

They began with a search of terms, trying to match any possible sightings of Green Arrow and get some idea of the ground the man covered. Lois sat next to him and drew a crude map as they found more and more. Someone had been posting information on sightings on both Green Arrow and The Blur, as Clark was becoming known, on a journal site.

“Wow,” Lois said as they studied the map. “This guy covers a lot of ground.”

It appeared he’d been seen not only in Metropolis, but in Edge City, Star City and in Central City. From what had been written in the journal, Green Arrow had been around for about three years, but no one knew who he was.

The first documented sighting had been in Star City where the leather-clad vigilante had threatened a man who had been using his business contacts to smuggle drugs into the city. That man was now behind bars.

“It’s the same thing with Dr Loman,” Lois said. “The guy was told to confess his sins to the local police or his business would be ruined.”

Clark nodded. There was an article attached on the man’s arrest. His business, instead of being forced to close, had been bought out by Queen Industries and restructured, but no one had lost their jobs.

“That seems kind of a coincidence, don’t you think?” he asked Lois.

“Yeah, I guess, but it’s not a smoking gun. Oliver’s a rich guy.”

Clark still wondered if there was more to it than that but had no idea how to even start trying to prove his suspicions.

They left the farm shortly before noon, eating lunch in their favourite diner before heading to the Granville carnival. Lois walked ahead of them while Clark pushed Kally in her stroller.

“Look who’s here,” she said with a laugh. Clark looked in the direction she was pointing. Bubsy and Sam were at the cotton candy stand. Bubsy was paying for the candy. The couple were holding hands.

“Aww, they’re so cute,” Lois said.

“Don’t you dare, Lo,” he warned her.

“Don’t I dare what? Don’t tease them? Look at Grandpa and Grandma, Kally.”

The older couple spotted them as they turned from the stand. Sam hesitated and handed some money over to the vendor, who handed them more cotton candy on a stick.

Lois greeted them with a grin, clearly about to tease them for holding hands.

“Don’t even think about it, young lady,” Bubsy scolded.

“I see you two had the same idea we did,” Sam said. He bent down to Kally’s level. “Would you like some cotton candy, sweetheart?”

Kally giggled and reached out both hands for the fluffy treat. Clark sighed inwardly, knowing she was going to get sticky hands. It was a good thing they’d come prepared with baby wipes, he thought. Sam laughed at his expression.

“First time Ella and I took the girls to a carnival, Lois wanted some cotton candy and I couldn’t say no. She got it on her clothes, in her hair. And I had a look on my face just like yours, son.” He grinned at Lois. “I think I still have a photo of that somewhere.”

“Yeah, that’s never going to see the light of day,” Lois replied.

“I don’t know. You’ve already seen all my bare bottom shots,” Clark told her. “Only right I get to see one of yours.”

She narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing.

Her father laughed. The older couple joined them as they checked out all the booths. Kally giggled in delight as her grandfather won a stuffed toy for her at a game where he had to shoot at a target.

Clark couldn’t help laughing at his future father-in-law as he showed off for not only Kally, but Bubsy as well. The older man looked relaxed and happy.

It was late afternoon when they got back to the farm. Lois made them coffee while Clark started dinner.

“It’s nice to see my dad so relaxed,” she said.

“Yeah, I know. I think the last year and a half has been good for him.”

“Bubsy’s good for him,” Lois returned.

“Not just Bubsy. You two are closer than ever,” he said. Lois had gone with her father on the Ferris wheel while Clark had watched from below. Father and daughter had laughed and chatted the entire time.

Lois nodded in agreement. It was clear that she loved the way her relationship with her father was now. She leaned on the counter, watching as he began chopping vegetables.

“Do you think about the future?”

He nodded. “All the time.”

“Where do you see us in the future?”

“You mean, after college? Probably working at the Daily Planet or something like that.”

“Of course, I’ll be the senior partner,” she replied.

He snickered. “Like I’m ever going to have a choice,” he retorted.

“Are you trying to tell me I’m bossy?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t dare,” he returned. “I guess we’d be living in Metropolis. Maybe we’d have another child by then, although not too soon. I think we need to get our careers established first.”

“I like that plan,” she said. She poured the coffee into mugs. “What about the Blur stuff?”

“Jor-El wanted me to get an education so I can understand more about how people think and be able to help them better. I think that’s also why he wants me to let myself get known gradually, so there’ll be less suspicion when I eventually do show myself.”

“You mean, ‘come out’,” she said mischievously.

“Very funny,” he replied.

“I try.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little domestic cuteness

Lois was loading the dishwasher as Clark finished clearing the table and cleaning up after their dinner.

“You know,” she said. “I think maybe we’re approaching this Green Arrow guy thing from the wrong angle.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, standing by as she added a capsule to the wash and closed up the machine. She straightened up and turned around to look at him.

“Well, we’ve been trying to think of who would actually gain from Dr Loman’s defection from Luthorcorp, right?”

“Right,” he said, wondering where she was going with this.

“So, I’m thinking that we should be looking at who and what their motivation could be for forcing Dr Loman to leave.”

He frowned at her. Wasn’t it the same thing? She shook her head when he questioned it.

“No, honey, see, it’s not so much what they gain from it, but what Luthorcorp could be losing. Think about it.”

He considered the question. “So, you think he’s actually trying to stop something at Luthorcorp?”

She looked at him. “Exactly. Dr Loman has been doing these experiments on meteor freaks, sorry the meteor-infected, for years. What if there were more projects involving these people?”

He bit his lip. She could be onto something, he thought, remembering when he’d helped A.C. get away from Lex. His friend had been strapped down, denied life-giving water, and had told him a researcher had taken blood samples. They had no idea if the samples had still been in the lab when they’d destroyed it, but given the timeframe, Clark had doubted the lab staff would have been able to do much with them.

“How is that going to help us identify this Green Arrow character?” he asked.

She shrugged, turning to wash the remaining dishes. “I don’t know. But it feels like it’s an important piece of the puzzle.”

He grabbed the towel and began drying the dishes. “I guess so, but I don’t think we’re going to find the answer tonight.”

He glanced over toward the living area where Kally was playing with the doll he’d won for her at the carnival. His daughter was looking sleepy.

“I think it’s somebody’s bedtime,” he said.

Lois nodded. “You sure she’s going to be okay in your dad’s study while we’re upstairs?”

“It’s not like you haven’t spent a night away from her before,” he said.

“Well, yeah, but that was the night of your dad’s party,” she replied.

He took her hand. “Lois, I have super-hearing and I will be able to hear if she gets upset. She’s going to have to sleep in her own bedroom one day.”

She nodded. “You’re right. I’m just being a worrywart.”

“You’re being a mother. I think it’s in the job description.”

She grinned at him. “You have this job description somewhere?” she asked.

“Ask my mom,” he returned, making her laugh.

“I just might do that.”

He went into the living room and crouched down in front of his daughter. “Hey, sleepyhead, how about we give you a bath and put you in your jammies?”

She looked at him sleepily and handed him her doll. He picked her up and she laid her head on his shoulder.

Lois smiled at him. “You go ahead and give her her bath. I’ll go sort out her bed in the study.”

Clark took the toddler upstairs and filled the bath before undressing her and sitting her in the warm water. There was an old rubber duck on the side. His mother had dug it out from his old toybox.

“You want Ducky?” he asked, dipping the toy in the water and squeezing it so it made a half-hearted quacking noise. He’d probably squeezed it too hard when he was little and wrecked the squeaker. Not that Kally seemed to care.

“This was Daddy’s when he was about your age,” he told her. She grabbed the duck and tried to put it in her mouth. Clark let her play a little as he washed her with the soft cloth. She cooed and babbled, splashing in the water.

“Oh, you want to play splash Daddy now?” he said, dipping his hand in the water and splashing her a little. She giggled.

He finished bathing her after a few minutes and ignored her protests when he lifted her out of the bath, standing her on the bathroom floor and wrapping a fluffy towel around her.

“Let’s go see if Mommy’s got your bed ready, okay, munchkin?”

Still wrapped in the towel, she remained happily in his arms as he carried her back downstairs. Lois had put a mattress down in the travel crib. She grinned at them.

“Look at you, all wrapped up like a bunny. Let’s get your jammies on, sweetie.”

Clark laid her down on the floor and unwrapped the towel. Kally began sucking her thumb as he grabbed the diaper and put it on. Lois chattered away to their daughter as they put the pyjamas on.

“You’re such a good girl,” she said. Clark had heard some babies liked to wriggle around when they were being dressed for bed, but not Kally. Then again, she was already half-asleep, he thought, watching as her eyelids drooped.

“Okay, munchkin, give Mommy a kiss goodnight,” he said.

Lois wrapped her arms around the toddler and hugged her, before kissing her on the cheek. Clark did the same, laying the baby down in the crib and covering her with the blanket. Kally protested and held her arms out.

Clark picked up the doll. Lois had retrieved it from the living room, knowing their daughter would want to sleep with it.

“Here’s your dolly,” he said. “Goodnight, baby.”

They crept out, leaving a small lamp going. Lois wanted to return to working on the laptop.

“Don’t you think you’ve done enough research for one day?” he asked.

“Aren’t you curious?” she asked.

“Sure I am. But it’s not like Green Arrow’s going anywhere. And we can’t exactly go out looking for him either.”

“I guess that’s true,” she said. She closed the laptop and left it on the table. “So, what do you want to do?”

“We can watch a DVD or something,” he suggested.

“And then what?” she asked with a sly look.

“Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, Ms Lane?”

“Mayyybe!”

He laughed and pushed her toward the living room, looking through the DVDs.

“You’ve Got Mail?”

She rolled her eyes. “Ugh. Chick flick. Haven’t you got anything more …”

“More what?”

“Like action.”

“We’re not watching a shark movie,” he told her. “Or Die Hard,” he added before she could suggest it.

“Party pooper!” she returned. “Revenge of the Nerds?” she asked, clearly having spotted it in the collection.

“Don’t ask me where that came from,” he said. “Maybe one of Pete’s brothers.”

They eventually settled on a comedy-drama and sat together on the couch. It wasn’t long before Lois grew restless. She grasped his hand, lacing their fingers together.

“How did you get so big?” she asked. “Is it a Kryptonian thing?”

He frowned. “Huh?”

“Your hand is like almost twice the size of mine,” she said. “Look.”

He looked down at their joined hands. She was right. Her hand was almost dwarfed by his. Her fingers were long but slim. His fingers were slightly longer than hers and wider.

“Why would you ask if it’s a Kryptonian thing? I mean, how would I know? I haven’t met any Kryptonians.”

“Guess that’s true.” She turned back to the movie but it seemed she had lost all interest in it. She looked at him again.

“How did you learn to control your strength? I mean, your mom told me you were always strong. How did you not break anything?”

He shrugged. “I wish I knew. I mean, from what Jor-El told me, there was some kind of assimilation program in the ship and the journey took about three years. Or close to it.”

She looked confused. “Assimilation?”

“So I would be able to fit in, I guess. Maybe he taught me to control my strength.”

“Do you think Kally will have your strength?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” He frowned at her. “Honey, you know that. Not even Jor-El can be sure what powers she’ll have until she gets to be a teenager.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot. She just seems so, I don’t know, normal, I guess. It’s easy to forget that she’s actually half-alien.”

“Yes, but my powers come from the yellow sun,” he reminded her. “I was born under a red sun. We’ve got no way of knowing how that’s going to affect Kally until it happens.”

“And what will happen then?” she asked.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said.

She snorted. “That is such a cliché.”

“But it still fits the situation. Lois, I know you worry about this stuff and to be honest with you, I worry too. We’re in this together. Okay?”

She leaned back against him. “Okay,” she said. “Of course, we’re going to have to think about what to tell my dad, eventually. I mean, what happens if she’s with him when her powers develop?”

Clark nodded. It had been the same situation with his parents. While there had been some enmity between his father and Grandad Clark, his parents had worried that he might not take the news of Clark’s alien heritage so well.

“At least we know Kally’s not going to develop any abilities until puberty,” he said.

“Whenever that will be,” Lois replied. She was quiet for a while. The movie continued in the background but her mind was clearly elsewhere.

“What was it like? Growing up?”

“With my powers, you mean? Well, my dad told me this story a couple of years ago. He’d sort of forgotten about it until this reporter tried to sell my story. Anyway, I’d only been with them a few weeks and he came looking for me. I don’t know what happened before, but in the attic there’s this big oak bedframe. My grandfather Hiram made it.” She hadn’t seen the attic, but she nodded, listening.

“I lifted that thing over my head. I was barely three-years-old and this thing weighed, I don’t know, Dad said it was probably about five hundred pounds but I’m sure that’s an exaggeration. Anyway, Mom and Dad got so scared, not knowing what they’d brought into their lives, so they took me to this doctor in the city. Only, before they went inside, Mom told Dad that they couldn’t be sure the doctor wouldn’t call the government and then they’d lose me for good. So, my dad turned around and they left.”

There had been times when, as a child, he’d seen his father looking at him with an odd expression and he’d wondered what he’d done wrong. Now that he knew the truth about who and what he was, he realised that his father had just been trying to figure him out. Probably wondering what would happen if the government did find out.

“They were always so careful. Mom told me that she used to feel bad that they couldn’t give me these big birthday parties like other kids got. I mean, a few years ago, Lana’s aunt threw her this huge party at Lex’s mansion. I never really thought much about it. My dad and I did have a few arguments, especially about football. He was always worried I might slip up and use my abilities and someone would get hurt.”

“That must have been hard.”

“What was worse was the fact that everyone seemed to treat me like a loser because I wasn’t participating in any sports.”

“That sounds so lonely,” she said sympathetically.

“But you would have had it just as hard,” he said.

“Well, I don’t have powers and my dad was never worried about the government taking me away.”

“Still,” he said.

She’d told him how hard it had been when her mother had passed away. The first few years, her father had barely even talked about her mother and had run the household like it was another of his commands. She knew now that he’d been so lost without Ella that he had just used whatever knowledge he had. Her mother had been the one to feed her girls and get them off to school and the one to discipline them. Sam had constantly been away on missions and had really had no idea how to raise two daughters.

“Do you think we’ll be like that?” Lois asked.

“Like what?”

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love my dad and Bubsy and I love your mom and dad, but they’re not perfect.”

“At least in some respects we can learn from their mistakes,” he said.

He had long ago realised that his parents had had good reason for being so over-protective. There had been times when he’d fought against such restrictions, but now that he was a parent, he understood them more.

They returned to watching the movie but they’d missed so much of the action on screen during their conversation that again Lois grew bored. Clark had to admit he had lost interest in it long ago.

He’d found himself thinking about how different his relationship was with Lana compared to how it was with Lois. There had been so much drama with the girl he’d grown up with. While some of it had been because of the various incidents where he’d needed to go help someone, it was the fact that Lana had seemed to hold that against him every time something else went wrong.

He knew part of the problem had been their lack of maturity. For all outward appearances, Lana seemed to have dealt with the tragedy of her past, but there had been times when Clark had wondered if she was still feeling like the girl on the cover of Time Magazine.

With all of the brunette’s relationships, she seemed to change to be what she thought was their ideal. With Whitney Fordman, she had been a cheerleader, until her streak of independence had won out, causing friction between her and the football jock. With Clark, she had tried to be the girl-next-door; only she wasn’t really anything like that. Then with Jason, she’d acted almost furtive, keeping secrets of her own – which was rather hypocritical when she had often accused Clark of letting secrets get between them.

When he’d first started dating Lois, or even before they’d officially started dating, he’d found her so easy to be with. She didn’t ‘need’ him to define her. She was fiercely independent and wasn’t about to let him change her. Sure, she could be bossy, but in many ways that was part of her charm, he thought.

“What are you thinking about?” Lois asked.

He realised he’d been deep in thought for the last several minutes and hadn’t noticed she’d been watching him.

“Hmm, how do I answer that?” he asked.

She punched his shoulder. “Tell me.”

He told her everything he’d been thinking. She was quiet for a few moments, looking down.

“You think I’m bossy?” she said.

“Um …”

She looked up at him, her expression unreadable. “I’m bossy?”

“Well …”

She punched his shoulder again. “You take that back.” He looked at her. “Take it back, Clark Kent, or I swear …”

He sent her a challenging look. “What’re you gonna do, Lane?”

She moved, straddling his lap. He held her at the waist, wondering what she was planning on doing. She leaned forward as if she was going to kiss him but kept a teasing distance between them. He tried leaning toward her to capture her mouth but she pulled away.

She had both hands on his shoulders and was trying to shove him. He laughed at her.

“What did you think that was going to achieve?” he asked.

She returned his challenging look with one of her own. “You think I’m bossy?” she repeated. “Well, you, Smallville, are incorrigible.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “Is that the best you got?”

He slipped his hands around to cup her backside, squeezing each cheek. She moaned.

“You drive me crazy,” she said with another moan.

She didn’t resist as he captured her lips with his own, kissing her deeply. He squeezed her butt cheeks again until she protested, her hands pulling his away from her body. She began to move, almost grinding against him, then squeaked when his grip tightened a little on her.

“We should … take this … upstairs,” she said.

She didn’t have to say another word. Clark had her upstairs before she could even blink.

“Wow!” she said, looking around and clearly realising what had happened. “I forget how fast you are.”

Clark pulled her to him to undo the buttons on her blouse. He kissed her.

“Lo, do you really want to waste time talking?”

“Hmm, nope.”

“Good,” he said. “Neither do I.”

“So, why are you still talking, when you should be doing, Smallville?”

Good point, he thought.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois and Clark spend the night together

Lois gazed at him as he slowly undressed her. She loved that he gave as good as he got when she teased him. That was something that had always been missing with all her old boyfriends. They hadn’t liked being teased.

Most of them wanted to dominate her, as if her independent spirit was something to be squashed. Not Clark. Sure, she could be bossy, but she knew he didn’t really mind.

She remembered him saying something about how Lana had once told him she had been afraid to show him who she really was but Lois had always thought the other girl hadn’t really known who she was. She’d defined herself by others in her life, worrying more about what others thought of her than being herself.

When she was with Clark, it felt like they were a true partnership, in all the ways that counted.

She stood before him, naked, realising that while she was completely undressed, he had yet to take off a stitch of clothing.

“Something’s wrong with this picture,” she said with a frown.

Clark looked at her. His mouth twitched, but he tried to keep a straight face.

“Really?” he said. “What is it?”

“One of us is naked and the other one isn’t.”

“Hmm,” he replied. “What do you want to do about it?”

“I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do,” she said. She pushed him against the wall and pulled at his flannel shirt, popping the buttons as she opened it to expose the t-shirt underneath. She heard one button hit the floor as it flew off.

Clark grinned at her, trying to pull her up to kiss her but she resisted, pushing the sleeves down his arms. Her boyfriend appeared impatient as he quickly shook the rest of the shirt off and tossed it aside. Lois grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it up over his head.

He took advantage of her momentary distraction to kiss her. She felt the warmth of his hands on her butt as he lifted her up in his arms. Her body had a tiny spasm as she hooked her legs around his waist, aware of her sex rubbing against his own. He was already hard, the bulge in his pants obvious.

As she was lowered to the bed, she tried pulling him down with her, but he shook his head. Clearly he had something else in mind. He kissed her once more before moving to slowly explore her body with his mouth.

She sucked in a breath when she felt his mouth on her sex, her body tingling with arousal. She moaned softly as he continued to explore. Lois looked down the bed, experiencing an odd feeling in her body seeing him with his head between her legs. It was somehow disconcerting, yet so incredibly hot at the same time. Lois hadn’t been a virgin when she’d first met Clark, but neither of her previous boyfriends had ever done something so intimate.

She lay back, losing herself in the pleasure of this intimate kiss. She made her enjoyment very clear by loudly groaning until he shushed her. She tried to aim a glare his way but was too caught up in the sensations.

By the time she came down from her ‘high’, she realised he was lying next to her, spooning her. He kissed her shoulder.

“Hi,” he said. “You know you can be very loud,” he added.

“Me?” she replied. He hadn’t exactly been quiet either the night they’d spent together in the hotel.

He chuckled. “Well, at least I know you didn’t hate it.”

She turned her head to mock-scowl at him. “You are a very, very bad man, Mr Kent.”

“Am I now?” he teased.

His hand was caressing her, lazily stroking up and down her body. Lois could feel his hard length against her butt and it caused a flutter in her belly. He’d somehow managed to strip the rest of his clothes off without her noticing. Then again, the man did have super speed, she thought. He could do a lot of things that she probably never noticed.

She was inexplicably breathless as his strokes became harder. Clark captured her mouth with his, kissing her deeply. She rolled over onto her other side to face him and flung her leg over his hip. He entered her, thrusting hard and deep, causing her to groan once more.

The room was filled with the sounds of their passionate lovemaking. Lois was suddenly very glad Clark lived on a farm and the nearest neighbour was a good mile away. Imagine, she thought as they cuddled together, what people would say if they’d heard them.

It was one reason she was reluctant for them to get intimate at the Inn. Her father spent almost all his spare time at the Inn, even sleeping over on weekends. Not that he wasn’t entitled to, she thought. It was just the idea that he might possibly overhear them having sex that worried her.

They were both still sleeping when the early morning sun began to peep through the curtains. Lois was so used to being woken early by her daughter babbling to herself that sleeping-in was a very rare event.

She was so deeply asleep that she didn’t hear the squeak of the door hinges. It was the little body jumping on the bed that caused her to wake with a fright.

“Mommy, Daddy.”

The sound of their daughter’s giggle woke Clark up as well. He lifted his head, looking bleary-eyed.

“What?”

Lois quickly grabbed the sheet and pulled it up to cover their nakedness before looking at her daughter. Kally was sitting on her haunches on the end of the bed.

“How did you get out of your crib?” Lois asked. As if Kally could even tell her.

Clark stared at her with almost a stunned expression.

“What are you doing out of bed?” he asked.

Kally just giggled. “Mommy, Daddy, up.”

Lois raised an eyebrow at her daughter’s demand that they get up. Clark sat up and grabbed the toddler, lifting her up and blowing a raspberry on her tummy. He turned, laying the girl between them and continued to tease her, blowing raspberries and making her giggle.

“Daddy, tickles!” she said.

Lois watched them for a while, grinning at their horseplay. She lay on her side, propping her head on her hand, enjoying the way father and daughter bonded. Clark was a good father. No, he was a great father, she thought. It was clear that he adored Kally and it was mutual.

She had been thinking more and more lately about the future. As much as she wanted to finish college and get a good job as a reporter, she knew she didn’t want to do it without Clark. They were a team.

A short time later, Lois went downstairs to find some clean clothes for Kally while Clark started breakfast.

She looked in the study for the overnight bag. The travelling crib was still in place but one part, where it could be folded up for storage, was slightly skewed. She went back out to the kitchen.

“I think she must have climbed out,” she announced, explaining how she found the crib.

Clark had put Kally on one of the chairs with a booster seat so she could reach the table while he cooked bacon, eggs and pancakes. He looked from the toddler to her.

“She climbed out?” he asked, sounding surprised. “Looks like we might have to start thinking about a bed for her.”

She frowned. “I don’t know. Isn’t it a bit soon?”

Clark appeared to consider it as he turned back to his cooking.

“I guess. Maybe we should talk to the parents. I think your dad might have some idea. I mean, they didn’t have a crib for me when I was little, so I slept in a bed right from the start.”

Lois reached over and gently stroked her daughter’s head.

“I can’t believe she’s climbing out of her crib already,” she said.

“Yeah, I know,” Clark said. “Then again, she is almost two.”

“Plus, she has your genes,” Lois remarked.

Clark made a face. “Yeah, blame me,” he replied.

After breakfast, Lois decided to see if she could do any more research into Green Arrow on the laptop. Kally followed her father out to ‘help’ him with the farm chores. While the toddler was probably more of a hindrance than a help, Clark didn’t seem to mind.

She was still working on the computer when she heard the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway and doors slamming. Her daughter’s voice carried through the open windows as she squealed excitedly.

“Gramma! Grampa!”

Lois chuckled to herself as Martha and Jonathan greeted their grand-daughter, listening to her little girl babbling and the couple each trying to get a word in. The screen door on the back porch squeaked and the senator and his wife entered. Kally was in her grandfather’s arms.

“Hello,” Jonathan said.

She got up, stretching her limbs, not realising how late it was and how long it had been since she’d taken a break.

Martha smiled at her.

“Hi, sweetie. Clark out working?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I was just doing some work on the laptop. How was Topeka?”

“Busy,” Jonathan said. He sat Kally down on the chair she’d used that morning and helped himself to a cookie from the plate. He bussed his wife on the cheek as he passed, saying he was just going to put his briefcase in the study.

Lois looked at Martha. “How was it? Really?”

“Exhausting,” Martha said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. “We couldn’t wait to get home. How have things been here?”

“They’re fine,” Lois said.

Jonathan came back in, a confused expression on his face. “What happened to the crib?” he asked.

“Oh, Kally got herself out of bed this morning,” Lois told him.

He raised an eyebrow. “She did?” he said.

Martha looked as surprised as her son had earlier. “How did she manage that?”

“I guess she just climbed out,” Lois explained. “I’ve been reading a couple of baby websites and they all say it starts to happen between about eighteen months and three. So I guess it’s not unusual.”

“Hmm, we should think about getting a bed for her if you’re both going to be spending nights here more often.”

Martha frowned at her husband. “I think it might be a little soon,” she said.

Lois nodded her agreement. The couple continued to discuss it back and forth, even mentioned that Clark had slept in a bed right from his first night.

“Yeah, but you didn’t really know how old he was then,” she said reasonably. “And it wasn’t like you already had a crib or anything.”

“That is true,” Martha said, looking at Jonathan. “Perhaps we should hold off until she’s a little older. Meantime, I think it’s best if we put gates at the bottom of the stairs and lock the main doors when we go to bed.”

Jonathan tickled his grand-daughter. “Our little girl’s growing up so fast,” he said.

“That’s another thing I’ve been thinking about,” Lois said. “Her birthday’s in a few weeks. I know we had her first birthday party here at the farm, but should we have the party here, or …”

“I think maybe you should talk to your dad and see what he has planned. Don’t forget that he and Annie are planning a wedding.”

She shrugged. They’d chosen to have a small ceremony in early May. It was not going to be anything fancy. Her father had told her that Bubsy had asked if they could use a celebrant instead of a church minister and he’d agreed. He’d suggested they have the ceremony in the gardens at the Inn, since it was such a pretty setting. There had been a few weddings there so planning it would be relatively easy. Lois had already offered to help her future stepmother with the organisation.

“I think they’ve got that all sorted,” she said. “But you’re right. I think Dad would love to help plan his grand-daughter’s birthday.”

Clark came in to join them, having finished his chores. The family chatted about the education summit for a while before Lois decided she should head home to take over the afternoon shift at the front desk. Her duties had expanded somewhat. Bubsy had encouraged her to take on the new duties saying there was really no one else she trusted to look after things the way Lois did. Having the support of her friend and soon-to-be stepmother had given Lois something she had never realised she had been missing.

It was something her father had realised as well, she thought as she drove home. When Ella had died, he’d left his girls to it instead of raising them the way her mother would have. He’d apologised to Lois and her sister for the way he’d neglected them, saying if he had to do things all over again, knowing what he knew now, he would have been there for them.

In spite of his neglect, he had realised that his two daughters were both bright, independent young women who had learned from their own mistakes and become women he was proud of.

Bubsy greeted her as she came in.

“Hi, sweetie. Did you and Kally have a good weekend?”

“We did,” she said. She looked at her father, who was sitting at the desk, looking over some paperwork. “Guess what?”

He frowned at her. “What?”

“Kally climbed out of her crib all by herself last night.”

He grinned, reaching for his grand-daughter. “Is that so?” He looked down at her. “Well, little girl, looks like you’re growing up.”

“We were thinking that maybe we should get her a bed.”

Her father shook his head. “It’s a little soon, honey. You were about Kally’s age when you first climbed out of your crib but it took a few weeks for you to get the hang of it.”

She frowned. “Yes, but you guys had Lucy as well.”

“We borrowed another crib. Your mom and I figured you might feel a little jealous when we brought Lucy home. Your mom thought if we replaced the crib with a bed, you might feel like you were being replaced. Anyway, I’d give it a little more time.”

She kissed her father on the cheek. “Thanks, Daddy. I knew you’d have some good advice.”

Lois set to work, leaving Kally with her grandparents, who were happy to watch her for the rest of the day so Lois could do her job. While the Inn still wasn’t all that busy, there were still a few guests who had braved the cold February weather and were checking in late that afternoon. She greeted them warmly and made sure they had all they needed before going to help in the dining room.

She spent the rest of the evening on reception desk, checking the website for any late reservations and taking any calls that came in. Bubsy came down from her room to check on things.

“How is it?” she asked.

“Quiet. All our reservations have checked in for the night.”

Her friend kissed her on the cheek. “That’s good. You’re doing a great job, sweetie.”

“Thanks, Mom,” she replied without thinking. Bubsy looked a little taken aback but pleased.

The older woman left to go back upstairs, clearly happy to have left the inn in capable hands. The night manager came in just before ten to start their overnight shift and was putting away her coat and bag when the phone rang.

Lois looked at the other woman and waved her away, deciding to take the call as her last job for the night.

“Smallville Inn. This is Lois. How can I help you?”

“Lo, it’s me.”

The manager sent Lois a questioning look but Lois shook her head, mouthing that it was her cousin.

“Chlo, what’s up?”

“Do you have the tv on?” she asked. Lois frowned. Chloe sounded a little strange.

“What’s going on?” she asked, taking the cordless with her to switch on the small television in the office.

It soon became very clear what her cousin was calling about. Lois watched in shock as she realised the anchorwoman was giving an obituary. Lionel Luthor was dead.

“How?” she asked, speaking into the phone after several minutes of silence.

“He fell out of a twenty-storey window, apparently. No one knows how it happened. There’s no surveillance camera in the office.”

“My God, Chlo. Have you told Clark?”

“No. Not yet.”

Lois turned back to the broadcast. There were images of Lex being led off by police.

“Is Lex being arrested?” she asked.

“I think they’re just talking to him about what happened,” Chloe said. “I don’t know much more than what’s already been broadcast.”

“This is … this is big news, Chlo.”

“Yeah, I know. I wonder who would hate him enough to kill him?”

Lois snorted. “Who doesn’t?” she said.

“True.”

The anchorwoman was on screen again.

“In other news, a man was found stabbed to death in Suicide Slum. Police sources claim the man was a member of the 13th Street Gang, a group of low-level criminals who frequent the area, and was known as Snake. While they have no suspects, they would like to talk to a woman who has been seen in that area. Locals say the woman is considered to be one of a number of masked vigilantes who have been fighting crime.”

The anchorwoman smirked at the screen and said something which Lois tuned out.

“Did you see that?” she asked her cousin.

“Yeah, I did. Doesn’t make it look good for people like you know who, does it?”

“No.”

“I wonder who she is?” Chloe mused.

“I don’t know. But I’m gonna find out.” Or rather, she and Clark would, she thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It occurred to me that since some canon events changed, they change the course of history. The question is, how does that change things?


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lex ruminates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided it was time to do a chapter from Lex's p.o.v, just to help explain what he's up to.

As dawn broke, Lex left the police station adopting the demeanour of someone who had just seen his world crashing around him. As soon as he got into the limousine parked by the roadside, he dropped the act. Lionel had been a thorn in his side for too long. His attempt at retaking Luthorcorp, getting in bed with what Lex assumed was the Chinese mafia, had caused huge problems, not only with the company but with the shareholders as well.

If only I hadn’t had to waste all that money crushing Apex Consortium, Lex thought. He’d spent over $100 million blocking their efforts at every turn, using all his contacts out of Hong Kong to dig up everything about the consortium’s plans.

Well, that scheme was well-and-truly done and dusted, he thought with a smirk. Lionel had failed spectacularly. Lex had offered his father a concession – a new position at Luthorcorp – something akin to the job the old man had once decided he would take up when he’d been released from Belle Reve – sharpening pencils. The old man probably wouldn’t have appreciated the irony.

None of that mattered now that Lionel was dead. Lex still had no idea who had killed him but the police had assured him they would do everything they could to find the culprit. Whoever they were, Lex wanted to shake that person’s hand.

He wondered if it had been one of those vigilantes he’d been decrying in the Daily Planet. Frankly, he wouldn’t have put it past the freak with the arrows. Then again, if it had been the archer, there should have been some evidence. It definitely wasn’t the one the people of Metropolis had dubbed the Blur. Lex was sure he knew the identity of that one, although he had no proof.

That left the Bat and the woman the newspapers were now calling the Angel of Vengeance. Lex scoffed to himself. Angel, no. Definitely not. Vengeance, probably. If it had been her, what reason could she possibly have had to throw Lionel out the window?

The limousine dropped him outside the main entrance of Luthorcorp Plaza and he paused for a moment, staring up toward the top of the tower. He could just see the tape across the broken window. Obviously the police were still treating it as a crime scene or else Maintenance would have done something about the window already.

“Lex?”

Frowning, he turned and looked at the young woman standing on the pavement a few yards from the front entrance to the Daily Planet. He quickly put on a sad smile.

“Chloe.”

She looked slightly uncomfortable. “Um, I heard about your dad. Are you okay?”

He swiped a hand across his brow and sighed, making a show of looking exhausted and overwrought.

“I’m fine,” he said, pretending to sound grieved. “I’ve just spent half the night with the police.”

“Do they have any leads?” she asked.

“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “Not yet.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said sympathetically. “If there’s anything I can do …”

He wanted to believe the sympathy was sincere. This was, after all, the girl he’d protected almost two summers ago. Kept her safe until she could testify against his father. For a while there, they’d actually started to build a friendship. Until Chloe, and by extension Clark, had begun to interfere in some of his schemes.

“There isn’t, but thank you.”

She nodded. “I should get to work.” She rolled her eyes. “Interns always get the worst shifts.”

“I understand. Goodbye, Chloe.”

He didn’t stick around to watch her walk away, entering the building and walking past the security desk. The guard was already on duty.

“Mr Luthor, I …”

Lex had intended to just keep walking but he stopped and did an about-face, glaring at the portly guard. He was one of those wanna-be cops who had never made the grade, forced to work a barely over minimum wage job.

“Tell me something …” He paused to look at the name badge on the man’s shirt. “Myron. Where were you when my father was being thrown out the window last night?”

“I wasn’t … I’ve only just …”

“I don’t want to hear excuses,” Lex snapped. “I want a full review on my desk by noon. Are we clear?”

The man’s skin was the colour of milk chocolate but Lex still saw the telltale signs of a flush.

“Yes sir.”

Lex continued on to the bank of elevators, pressing the button to call the car before taking out his security card. The doors slid smoothly open and he entered, turning to swipe the card through the reader so the lift would take him to the executive floor. He held the plastic card in his hand, hesitating, then pressed the button for the 20th floor.

It was a reasonably short ride upwards. Lex stepped out of the elevator and used his keycard to unlock the doors, which opened automatically. A breeze blew through the office from the broken window. Shattered glass lay on the floor. Police tape guarded the hole where the glass had once been.

Lex stood taking in the scene. He hadn’t had a chance to see it except for a brief moment the night before when the police had called him in. Even then he hadn’t been able to see much for the half-dozen cops taking evidential photographs of the scene.

He huffed, turning and leaving the office which had been briefly his father’s.

He went up to his own office and began going through some of Lionel’s files, thinking there might be some clue as to the identity of the killer. He was still at it when his assistant came in telling him a detective was there to talk to him.

Lex didn’t even bother to look up and just gestured silently. The woman walked out again. Less than a minute later, Detective Maggie Sawyer walked in.

Sawyer was an attractive brunette about twenty years older than Lex. She had questioned him over the incident with Clark’s daughter and hadn’t been satisfied when Lex had told her he’d had nothing to do with the kidnapping.

“Detective? Have you learned anything new?”

“Our forensics team did pick up some evidence,” she told him coolly. “The killer came in through the window.”

Lex cocked an eyebrow. He’d already figured that much but wasn’t about to suggest the detective was stating the obvious.

“Anything else?”

“We won’t get DNA results for a few weeks, but we were able to get enough evidence to determine the killer was female.”

That left only one possibility as far as he was concerned. As soon as the detective had left, he brought up a file from the Daily Planet. There were a couple of articles from Chloe Sullivan. One of particular interest was titled ‘Angel of Vengeance’. The woman had been seen in Suicide Slum, battling the local gangs. The fact that she had been targeting the 13th Street gang in particular suggested she had some sort of axe to grind.

He made a call then went about normal business for the rest of the day. Despite the lack of sleep, he still stayed at the office until well after dark before heading out, taking one of the corporate sedans from the parking garage.

He drove to the warehouse district on the edge of the slums, then waited. A man stepped out of the shadows and Lex got out. He handed the man a packet. The man looked inside, pulling out the printed article.

“Find out everything you can about this woman,” Lex told him.

“What do you want to do with her once I find her?”

“Bring her to me.” He paused. “What about our other project?”

“Loman skipped town. No forwarding address. Did find out something interesting though. Seems he was paid a visit. By that Arrow guy.”

Interesting, Lex thought. Loman is visited by the archer and suddenly disappears. What was the archer trying to protect and was it connected in any way to Clark Kent?

“If you’re thinking this might have something to do with the Kent kid, I doubt it. One of my, uh, associates has been following Kent and his girl. If there was any connection to the archer, they’d have met up with him by now.”

So much for that theory, he decided. At least he still had his letter-writing campaign. He’d done his best to ensure all the local newspapers printed his letters condemning the vigilantes and so far the campaign seemed to be working. There had been a few editorials and responses from the local authorities also complaining about the actions of the vigilantes.

He returned to work the next morning and was surprised to see a meeting with Bruce Wayne on his calendar. He knew the Gotham billionaire through company contacts although they rarely had any business in common. Wayne Enterprises had a few divisions, including Wayne Tech, but there was not much competition between the two multi-nationals.

The last time he’d seen Bruce was at the party to introduce Jonathan Kent as the new Kansas Senator.

Security announced Bruce’s arrival a short time before the appointment and Lex told them to send him up. He sat back in his chair, wondering what the man wanted to see him about.

The dark-haired man entered the room, his hand outstretched. Lex got up to greet him and gestured toward the leather chairs in the centre of the room.

“What can I do for you, Bruce?” he asked.

“I heard about your father,” the other man replied.

Was that really why he had come to see him? Bruce Wayne had never shown any concern before.

“Yeah,” he responded. “Guess it’s big news.”

“Do the police have any leads?”

“Not really. It’s only been a day or so. I suppose it will take time to sort through the evidence.”

“I imagine so. You know, Lionel approached me a few weeks ago wanting me to invest in some scheme of his. Seems he thought you’d got the company in some kind of trouble.”

“Yeah, well, the old man never really did know how to let go.”

“I find it interesting myself that he would choose such a tactic. Lionel was always rather proprietary when it came to his company.”

Lex stared at the other man, wondering if he was fishing for something.

“Is there a point to this?”

“Well, I did hear that he had sought investment from other territories. The Chinese, for example. I can imagine they wouldn’t be too thrilled to know their ‘partner’ in an attempted coup failed so spectacularly.”

“Are you suggesting the Chinese might have had something to do with his death?” Lex asked.

Bruce smirked. “I spent a few years in Asia and I have a few contacts in that area. It wouldn’t surprise me if this was some kind of hit.”

Was he really trying to divert Lex’s attention elsewhere?

“I think Lionel managed to make plenty of enemies here,” he said.

“True,” Bruce said, nodding.

“Is there a point to your visit, Bruce? It’s not as if you and my father were friends.”

“I was just curious. Well, that and I heard on the grapevine the publisher of the Daily Planet is thinking of selling.”

Lex cocked an eyebrow at the other man.

“Really? I hadn’t heard anything about that.”

“Then again, I suppose it’s not something your company would be interested in. You’re an agricultural company.” He paused. “Oh, didn’t I hear something about a project with the Navy last summer?”

Lex suppressed an angry retort. Project Leviathan had been working better than projections and somehow it had been sabotaged. He was sure the young man, Arthur Curry, had done something to it. He wouldn’t have been all that surprised if Clark had also had something to do with it. Not that he had any proof.

What he wouldn’t do to get his hands on that man again. Curry had shown some interesting abilities. Trouble was, the other man had abandoned his studies at Miami University and disappeared off the radar. Lex had a feeling he would turn up again somewhere. He was known as somewhat of an activist. He would probably be found protesting whaling or some kind of fish farm somewhere.

“Well, these days, companies have to diversify if they’re going to stay ahead of the market,” he told the other man. “Afraid I’m going to give Wayne Enterprises a run for its money?”

“As if you could,” Wayne murmured.

Lex realised the man had come here to, if not bait him, at least feel him out on his intentions on the direction of his company. Now fully his since Lionel was out of the picture. What he’d said was true. Luthorcorp would have to diversify if it was going to stay on top of its competitors.

Owning something like the Daily Planet wouldn’t be a bad idea, he thought long after Bruce had left. The newspaper prided itself on a tradition of being non-partisan when it came to its political stance, despite the fact the current publisher had proclaimed himself staunchly Democrat, whereas Lex was and always had been Republican. If he owned the newspaper, he could not only subtly encourage a change of direction but he could also control the message. It would certainly help his campaign against the vigilantes in the city.

He was sure Clark was one of them. Of course, he still had no proof. He had hoped that by testing the little girl, he might have found the proof he needed.

It galled that for all the years they’d been friends, Clark had refused to divulge his secrets. There had been moments when he’d realised Clark had been lying to him. It had been as plain as the nose on his face. His former friend had always hated lying – that much was obvious.

All the strange occurrences, the odd appearances and disappearances, the way Clark just seemed to know something that he couldn’t possibly have known if he were just a normal kid was the thing that bothered Lex the most. That and the fact that it was obvious that in spite of all Lex had done for him, he’d somehow never been able to earn the younger man’s trust.

If only Clark had just been honest with him all the times he’d asked for the truth, he wouldn’t have done half the things he had. Like blackmailing Roger Nixon into working for him. Like hiring Stephen Hamilton to investigate the meteor rocks. All he’d wanted to know was how he had managed to cheat death that day on the bridge.

The other things, like the mysterious stones – well, Lionel had started that.

He didn’t know when the friendship had changed. Clark was the one who had redefined the boundaries of their friendship. Maybe part of it was the fact that he’d become a father. Lex supposed becoming a parent at such a young age did change one’s perspective on things. Maybe Clark had seen something in Lex that made him concerned for his daughter.

Lex would never know. He could analyse the whole situation and still never come up with an answer as to why they’d gone from best friends or almost brothers, to enemies. The Kents had definitely closed ranks since Lois Lane had come into their lives.

He’d once thought that if only he could convince Clark to his way of thinking, they could rule the world together. Now that their friendship was completely kaput, he realised he would have to approach it from another angle.

Sun Tzu had once said: ‘To know your enemy you must become them’. Or maybe it was: ‘keep your friends close and your enemies closer’. Whatever, he thought. Since Clark seemed to have some special abilities, Lex figured the only way to ensure he won whatever war it was they appeared to be fighting, he had to have his own army of people with special abilities.

He turned to his computer and accessed a file, inputting the password to open it. He began reading through the data on the file. So far, none of the subjects had even close to what he needed, but he figured if his scientists could work out how to reproduce those abilities and pool them together somehow, he might be able to create a super soldier.

Not that he planned on using the super soldier in some kind of battle against Clark. No, he figured on a more subtle approach. If his plans worked, he could convince the government to use his soldiers while at the same time forcing the vigilantes into either hiding or working for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We all know Lex is the type to go for the subtle rather than the direct approach. He's a big subscriber to the Sun Tzu philosophy of not only knowing his enemy but using subtlety. Hence his newspaper campaign, trying to badmouth Clark, Oliver and all the other vigilantes out there.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark and Lois investigate Lionel's death

“Smallville, hurry up!”

It was almost a week since Lionel’s death and they’d made plans to go to the city to talk with Chloe about the case and try to figure out what to do next, but Clark was dawdling over some chores. His father didn’t have to go to any meetings for another few days and Jonathan had taken the opportunity to do some odd jobs around the farm that Clark hadn’t got around to doing. That hadn’t stopped Clark from pitching in.

“Mommy, Daddy’s not Smallville, he’s Daddy,” Kally admonished from the back seat of the car. Her words still came out a little garbled but she was well ahead of other toddlers her age with her language skills.

Her father had had to go to Washington and he’d taken Bubsy with him. While Clark’s parents had offered to babysit for the day, Lois thought they deserved a break from grandparent duties.

“Smallville!” Lois called again, pressing her hand on the horn.

Clark finally appeared. “I just need to go wash my hands,” he told her.

“Well, hurry up,” she scolded. “I’d like to get to Metropolis some time this week.”

Her boyfriend shot her an aggrieved look before jogging over to the house. Her daughter again scolded her, saying she was being mean to ‘Daddy’.

Martha came out with a basket of muffins and Kally’s favourite chocolate chip cookies.

“Are you sure you want to take her with you?” Martha asked. “I really don’t mind babysitting.”

Lois smiled at her. “You’re always babysitting. You deserve some time to yourselves.”

“Well, you’re right, it has been rather a busy couple of weeks.” She leaned in to give her grand-daughter a cookie.

“I don’t want that one, I want that one,” she said, pointing to another one in the basket.

“It’s the same thing, sweetie,” her grandmother told her.

“I want that one!” Kally insisted, screwing her face up. Lois glanced at her daughter in the rear vision mirror as the toddler became even more insistent, even when Martha assured her again that they were exactly the same.

Lois looked at her future mother-in-law. “Uh oh, looks like somebody’s started the ‘terrible twos’.”

“I’m not tewwible!” Kally replied. “You twewible.”

Clark came out of the house as the toddler continued her meltdown. He raised his eyebrows.

“Well, that’s new!”

Martha grinned at her tall son. “Welcome to parenthood, sweetheart.”

“I was never like that at her age.” He grimaced as Kally began to scream. His mother shot him a look. Like he would know, Lois thought.

The redhead smirked at him. “No? I can show you a few places where we had to cover up holes in the walls thanks to a certain young man’s tantrums. At least you won’t have to worry about your daughter bringing the house down.” She smiled as she said it, but Lois knew from some of her conversations with the older woman that that had been a very real possibility given that Clark as a toddler wouldn’t have known his own strength.

Kally began crying. Lois sighed. They had to nip this in the bud before it escalated even more. She turned to look at her daughter.

“You stop that right now, missy, or you won’t get to see Aunt Chloe!”

Kally was saying something Lois couldn’t quite make out, but it sounded a lot like she thought her mother was being mean because she wouldn’t be allowed to see her aunt.

Clark opened the back door. “Hey, you know you can’t go see Chloe with your face all red.” He grabbed a box of Kleenex and began wiping her face. “Come on, pretty girl, show me that smile of yours.”

Lois saw Kally give her father a watery sort of smile.

“Now, don’t you think you should say sorry to Mommy and to Grandma? You know, Grandma made those cookies especially for you because she knows you love them so much.”

“I sowwy Mommy, I sowwy Grandma.”

“That’s okay, Kally,” Lois told her, knowing it wouldn’t be the last tantrum the toddler would have.

Martha grinned knowingly at her. “You be on your best behaviour, sweetheart. That goes double for your daddy.”

Clark just grinned innocently at his mother.

The little tantrum resolved, Lois drove to the city. She couldn’t help thinking that maybe she had been a little too harsh with her daughter. She knew Kally was bound to have a tantrum once in a while but wondered if she should have spoken that way.

They met Chloe at the Planet as she was working the afternoon shift. As soon as Kally saw her aunt she practically ran into her arms, squealing excitedly. While the pair were chattering, Clark caught her arm.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You were very quiet in the car on the way up.”

“I just … was I too harsh with her?”

“With Kally?” Clark looked surprised. “No. What makes you think that?”

“She said I was mean.”

“Honey, she’s just testing boundaries. My parents talked to me about this a while ago. The thing we need to remember is that she’s going to try to test us, play one parent against the other. We just need to back each other up. Maybe this was her first but it’s not going to be her last. It’s good that you were firm with her.”

“You were so good with her,” she said. “I mean, you did get her to apologise.”

“Sure. And next time she’ll probably treat me as the bad guy and you as the good guy.”

She grinned, feeling a little better about it. “Does that mean we get to play good cop, bad cop?” she asked.

“Only if you’re very, very good,” he replied with a quick kiss.

“Okay, you two better not be doing anything to corrupt my little niece,” Chloe interjected.

“Us?” Clark said.

“Perish the thought.”

Chloe just smirked at them and sat down at the desk with Kally in her lap.

“So, anyway, I talked to a couple of my sources within the police department. What they did tell me was that the person who killed Lionel was a woman and she broke in through the window.”

Clark frowned. “How do you mean she broke in through the window?”

“Well, maybe she … I don’t know … flew?” Lois suggested. She knew Clark would some day learn to fly but she didn’t think it was likely anyone human would be able to, special abilities or not.

“I don’t think it’s flying,” Chloe said. “I’ve been following reports of this woman for a while. I called her the ‘Angel of Vengeance’.”

“Catchy,” Lois commented.

“Yeah, well, she’s been seen around the slums standing up for the little guy. Some of my sources claim she’s able to ‘leap tall buildings’.”

“So you think she’s the one who killed Lionel?” Clark said.

Chloe bit her lip. “I got a tip from another of my sources who said there were plans for some kind of urban renewal project. The trouble was, a lot of people were being bullied to sell up. Those who rented were evicted.”

“Who was doing the bullying?” Lois asked.

“Yeah, I’m glad you asked that question, Lo.” Chloe clicked a file on the computer. “Apex Consortium.”

Clark glanced at Lois. “That’s the name on the paperwork I spotted in Lionel’s briefcase that time. He had some kind of partnership with these guys out of Hong Kong.”

Chloe nodded. “I did some further searching and about six months ago, a woman was supposedly mugged. Her daughter was with her. They were both stabbed. The daughter survived. She didn’t.”

“What’s the connection?” Clark asked.

“She was part of this organisation called … Acrata. They were a small community group fighting to clean up the streets. They were battling pretty big odds. I mean, the gangs, the violent crimes, not to mention the suits. The police have never named a suspect but my contact in the police department told me they were pretty certain one of the 13th Street gang did it.”

“I’m guessing the rest of the gang aren’t talking,” Lois responded.

“You’d be right.”

“Wasn’t one of the gang also killed the other night?” Clark asked.

Chloe nodded. “Yeah.”

“No way is that a coincidence,” Lois told her cousin.

Kally, meanwhile, was looking at the pictures on the computer, putting her hands on the screen and babbling away to herself.

“Okay, so, let’s recap. Apex Consortium starts to buy people out of their homes in some sort of urban renewal project, only things turn nasty when some of the residents refuse to sell up. This woman with Acrata comes along to speak out against the project and she’s killed in what looks like a mugging by one of the 13th Street gang. Six months later, a gang member is killed along with Lionel, who probably spearheaded the whole thing.”

Lois nodded at her boyfriend. “Sounds about right.”

He looked thoughtful. Lois wondered if he was trying to work out the patterns in his head. She glanced at her daughter. The toddler was frowning at her father’s expression.

“Okay, here’s a theory. What if Apex, or why don’t we just say Lionel, was working with the gangs to escalate the gang violence in the slums? I mean, that would drive property prices down and the Consortium could have bought in at I guess fire sale prices?”

Chloe looked at him. “That’s a good theory. And since we know Lionel grew up in the slums, he’d have a few contacts in that area.”

“The question is, how do we prove it?” Lois asked. “I mean, if this Angel of Vengeance is the one that killed Lionel, then she must have put the pieces together already.”

“That’s true,” Chloe said reasonably. “So, maybe we should look for her?”

Clark bit his lip. “We could set something up. Like I could pretend to be mugging you,” he said.

“That’s really lame, Smallville,” Lois said.

Chloe nodded. “Yeah. I don’t think she’d buy it.”

Lois chewed on her lower lip. If only her father hadn’t gone to Washington for a couple of days. She figured he might have a couple of contacts in either law enforcement or someone who lived in the slums.

“Why don’t we go see if we can find someone in the 13th Street gang?” she asked.

“And how exactly are you going to get them to talk to you, Lo?” Clark returned. “The Lane charm can only get you so far.”

She smiled at her boyfriend. “Lane charm? You think I have charm?”

Chloe rolled her eyes and grinned at her niece. “Oh brother,” she said. “Your parents are making goo-goo eyes at each other.”

“Goo goo,” Kally repeated with a giggle.

Lois ignored her cousin to turn back to Clark.

“Besides, I think you could get more out of them than I can. What with your …”

She was interrupted by the entry of none other than Bruce Wayne. He appeared to be looking for someone as his gaze swept across the room. He seemed surprised to see them.

“Oh, hello. Mr Kent, Miss Lane. And …” He looked at Chloe. “You are?”

“Chloe Sullivan. I’m Lois’ cousin.”

“I see. And who is this?” he added, looking down at Kally.

“That’s our daughter,” Clark told him coolly. “Kally.”

Bruce shrugged. “Rather surprised you brought her here. To a newspaper.” As if it was a company rule that children weren’t allowed to visit family at the newspaper, Lois thought.

“Well, my father’s in Washington and Clark’s parents needed a break. Not that it’s any of your concern.” Lois looked at him evenly. “What brings you to the Daily Planet?”

“Oh, I was just talking to the advertising department,” he replied.

Chloe frowned at him. “Well, the advertising department isn’t here,” she said. “This is the bullpen. In the basement.” She gazed steadily at him, making it clear she knew very well he was lying and wasn’t going to let him get away with it.

The Gotham billionaire appeared completely unfazed. “Yes, of course. Excuse me.” He turned and went out.

“That was interesting,” Chloe mused. “He’s, uh, shorter in person. I mean, not that he’s short. He just looks way taller on television.”

“I wonder what he was really doing here,” Clark asked.

“Yeah. Kind of shifty, if you ask me,” Lois replied. She decided to get back to the subject. “So, Smallville, are we gonna do this or what?”

“Do what?” he asked, frowning.

“Go talk to the gangs in Suicide Slums?”

“Oh. That. You really think that’s safe, Lois?”

“What are you suggesting, Smallville? That I’ll get myself into trouble?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time, Lane.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Oh, you are gonna be in so much trouble when I get hold of you, Kent.”

He smirked. “You’d have to catch me first.”

Chloe coughed. “Uh, aren’t you two forgetting something?” she said.

Lois looked at her cousin, then smacked her forehead. They’d forgotten Kally. She turned back to Clark.

“We can’t exactly …”

Chloe again ‘ahemed’. “You know, you could just ask.”

Clark looked at her. “Chloe, would you mind looking after Kally? It should only be a couple of hours.”

“I’ll be finished up here in an hour, so I’ll take her back to Smallville with me.”

Chloe had taken the apartment over the Talon when Lana had moved to New York. Her father had taken a job in Star City. Thanks to Lionel’s blacklisting, Gabe Sullivan hadn’t been able to get a decent paying job in Metropolis or Smallville and had been forced to take minimum wage jobs. When Chloe had started at Met U, he’d decided to get a fresh start somewhere else and had managed to find a good job and apartment in Oliver Queen’s hometown.

She grinned down at the toddler. “What do you think, Kally? Want to stay here with me and play reporter?”

Kally grinned back.

Lois handed her the car key.

“Why don’t you take my car instead of us swapping the booster seat?” she suggested. “Clark can just Speedy Gonzales us back to Smallville.”

“Speedy Gonzales?” Clark asked, looking around with a nervous expression. Luckily there was no one else in the bullpen.

“You know what I mean.”

“Or you could take my car,” Chloe offered.

Clark made a face. “Much as I appreciate the offer, Chloe, it’s a little small for me.” He paused. “No offence.”

“None taken,” she replied. “Although I do reserve the right to make fun of you for it later. I had a great image of you all squashed up like a squeezebox.”

Lois laughed. “Now that would be something to see.”

Clark shook his head and shot her a look. “Don’t even think about it, Lane.”

They left the Planet a short time later. Clark sped them to the Slums, close to where Chloe had told them the 13th Street gang hung out. While it was late March, it was still fairly cold once darkness fell and there were a few homeless people standing around fires lit in old oil drums.

Clark clutched her hand. “Stay close to me,” he said.

As much as she hated the idea of him being over-protective, she figured he had good reason. Her cousin had told her there were dozens of muggings each day and at least one homicide. The local police precinct was overwhelmed with the numbers of unsolved murders, although it was fairly clear they knew exactly who was behind the murders.

She’d thought Chloe would have been all over this story, but figured her cousin already had enough chasing the numbers of stories on the vigilante she’d dubbed the Angel of Vengeance. Chloe had a lot to prove at the Daily Planet. Her history with covering the odd occurrences in the Smallville High Torch hadn’t done her any favours with the editor-in-chief. Not to mention her previous deal with Lionel when he’d persuaded the-then editor to hire her to write a column in exchange for information about Clark.

They walked around the streets for an hour but no one approached them. Lois watched a car pull up outside the Sacred Heart Mission and a woman got out. She went around to the trunk and pulled out an old suitcase.

Lois looked at Clark, who nodded. Together, they began to approach the woman. Before they could get there, two men approached from the other side. Clark stopped and pulled her aside before the men could see them.

“One of them has the number 13 tattooed on his neck,” he whispered.

They watched for a few moments, waiting to see what the men would do. The men shouted out to the woman, who shook her head. She shouted something in what Lois assumed was Spanish.

Clark darted forward. Lois wondered what he was doing but then saw the glint of metal shining from the streetlight. One of the men appeared to be threatening the woman.

“Get away from her!” Clark shouted.

The two men turned on him. The next thing Lois knew, one of the men was on the ground and the other was clutching his hand, yelping in pain. The woman was staring, seeming a little freaked out by what had happened.

Lois approached her. “It’s all right,” she said.

Clark had grabbed the man and had lifted him up by the collar of his leather jacket. Lois quickly helped the woman with the suitcase, leaving it just inside the door of the mission. The woman nodded her thanks before driving away.

“What are you, man?” the now panicking gang member was saying.

“Someone you don’t want to mess with,” Clark told him.

Lois studied the man. She guessed he was Hispanic – probably from Puerto Rico or Mexico.

“What do you want from me?” the man asked.

“We just want to know about the girl,” Lois said. “We know you know about her. The papers are calling her the Angel of Vengeance.”

“I don’t know, lady. All I know is, she’s some kind of freak. She killed Snake.”

“Who’s Snake?” Clark asked while Lois felt for the phone in her pocket. She’d already set it up to record with the press of one button.

Slowly the whole story came out. Clark’s theory was right on the money. Snake and the rest of the gang had been paid by people working for Apex to drive down property values. The ‘suits’ as he called them, hadn’t cared how. The numbers of muggings, homicides, arsons and armed robberies had increased exponentially.

When Acrata had begun its campaign of resistance, Snake had been hired by another ‘suit’ to take out the organisation’s loudest voice. Elena Rojas. Elena and her daughter Andrea had been coming back from somewhere one night when Snake and his friend had jumped them. Both women had put up a fight but Elena had died almost instantly from stab wounds while Andrea had been taken to hospital.

“Who was the suit?” Lois asked.

“I don’t know his name. But he was kind of bald. And he had an accent. Like, I dunno, English.”

Lois looked at Clark. “Dominic,” she mouthed.

“Do you know where Andrea is?” Clark asked.

“No. I swear to you, man.”

“What about the Angel? Do you know where she hangs out?”

He shook his head.

Lois knew they couldn’t let the guy go. He’d pretty much confessed to being an accessory to murder. Clark looked at her and seemed to guess what she was thinking. He disappeared, taking both men with him, but was back within seconds.

“I left them tied up outside the precinct,” he said. “With a note for Maggie Sawyer.”

“Good thinking, Smallville. That still doesn’t get us any closer to finding the girl, though.”

“No, but …” He happened to look up and his eyes widened. “Uh, we have company.”

Lois turned and followed his gaze. She could just make out the flapping of some kind of cape in the moonlight. The figure stood on the roof of a building overlooking the Mission.

“Is that who I think it is?”

“Batman,” Clark affirmed.

They’d heard a few stories about the man in Gotham but while there was much speculation about him, no one seemed to know who he was or where he came from. All they knew was that he had declared war on criminals in his city. Metropolis was a little out of his territory, however.

The Dark Knight turned away and seemed to disappear. Intent on continuing their mission to find the girl, they started walking again. They were forced to stop when a figure appeared in front of them.

Lois opted for her usual snarkiness to hide her surprise.

“Something we can help you with, Batman?” she said.

The man stared at her, his expression cool through the cowl he wore covering most of his face.

“It appears my reputation precedes me,” he replied, his voice husky.

“What are you doing in Metropolis?” Clark asked.

“The city is not exclusively the Blur’s territory,” the man responded. Lois sucked in a breath, surprised at his revelation. “Yes, I know who you are and what they are calling you.”

“What is it you want from me?”

“Nothing. Except to drop the Lionel Luthor matter.”

“Why? What does Lionel have to do with you?”

“The matter has been resolved,” was all he would say. “I suggest you go home and forget this meeting ever happened. I would hate to see something happen to either one of you and leave your beautiful daughter without a family.” He paused. “Cherish every moment you have with her.”

Batman began to turn away. Lois was left wondering who the man was and how he knew about Kally. While the articles had been in the paper, they had always been careful never to allow her to be photographed, to protect her. Even at the rally, prior to the election, Jonathan had politely requested that any images of her not be published.

Clark sped her back to the farm where Chloe had already arrived and was helping Kally eat her dinner. The toddler greeted them with ketchup all over her chubby cheeks. She was going through the difficult phase with food where she would only eat one thing. Which was chicken.

After they’d eaten dinner and put their daughter to bed in the study, Clark suggested the three of them talk in the loft.

“What is it, honey?” Lois asked.

“I know who Batman is.”

Chloe stared at him. “How would you know that?”

“X-ray.”

“Clark Kent, did you …”

“Well, I kind of had to. I mean, I thought what he’d said about Kally was kind of odd, so …”

“So, who is he?”

“Bruce Wayne.”

Lois stared at him in amazement. She thought about it for a few minutes while Clark told Chloe everything that had happened with the gang member and then the encounter with Batman. It all made an odd kind of sense, she thought.

“Well, I did some more research of my own. Elena Rojas was stabbed but the police thought it was a mugging and Andrea ended up in hospital. When she recovered, she told police they had been coming back from a gymnastics meet.”

“Gymnastics?” Lois asked. The pieces of the puzzle seemed to be coming together.

Chloe nodded. “Andrea was on track to compete in the next Olympics. Anyway, her dreams were pretty much dashed with the mugging.”

“Why?”

“She had to have a heart transplant,” Chloe told Clark. “But get this. The heart came from someone who was killed in a car crash six months ago. The victim was from Smallville.”

Lois sighed. “Let me guess. They had some kind of meteor power.”

“Yup. You guessed it.”

“So Andrea is the Angel of Vengeance?” Clark asked.

“Looks like it. I’m guessing her gymnastics skills gave her the agility and the meteor rock gave her the extra strength.” Chloe sighed. “The worst part is, she was right under our noses the whole time. Andrea was another intern at the Planet.”

She went on to explain that when she had discovered this, she had gone looking for Andrea, only to find the girl’s desk had been cleared out.

Lois wondered if that was what Batman had meant when he’d said the matter had been resolved. Had he taken Andrea into his protection?

Unless they actually confronted Bruce Wayne with what they knew, they would probably never learn the whole truth.

***

“So, where is she?”

“She’s safe.”

Oliver Queen sat in the armchair opposite his Gotham rival. “What about what she did to Lionel?”

“I can’t just turn her over to the police,” Bruce said. “I promised her. She’s not a bad kid. I think she was just blinded by grief. She will come to understand that what she did was wrong, but I can’t say that she wasn’t justified. The man did arrange to have her mother murdered.” The dark-haired man gazed at him, his expression unreadable. “I appreciate the heads-up.”

“Yeah, well, I couldn’t exactly let her be a guinea pig for one of Lex’s experiments.”

“Are you sure about this 33.1?”

Oliver nodded. He had heard of the project through Dr Loman. Ever since he’d begun his campaign to clean up corruption in his city, he had been hearing rumours of Luthorcorp scientists performing dangerous and unethical experiments on people with unusual abilities. It was only when he’d confronted the good doctor about his part in the whole debacle with the Kent child that he’d learned the full extent of those experiments and what Lex had planned to do with the information he’d gathered on the child. Fortunately, the man had had a conscience and decided not to reveal what he’d seen in the tests he’d performed on the little girl.

The doctor had been extremely co-operative since then, handing over everything he knew about the other experiments. Oliver supposed the man did have an incentive to co-operate, since he’d been offered a chance to start over in Star City with a job in a research lab set up to help children with incurable ailments.

“What about Kent and his girl? You know they’ve been digging. So has Chloe Sullivan. Sooner or later they will figure you out.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Oliver replied. “What about Batman?”

Bruce smirked. “If Lois Lane is as astute as I think she is, she’ll have picked up the breadcrumbs I left.”

“You better hope she doesn’t decide to beat your ass for that. From what I’ve heard about Lane, she’s not one to stand back when she’s annoyed about something.”

“Oh, I think I can handle her. It’s Kent I’m more concerned about. Someone with that much power is someone to be very wary of.”

Oliver shrugged. “I don’t know. An associate of mine seems to think Kent is an okay kid. A little naïve, perhaps, but seems like a decent guy.”

“That remains to be seen.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark and Lois want to learn more about Batman's agenda

Clark wanted to keep an eye on Lex and his activities, which seemed to be growing more unethical by the day, but Lois wanted to keep digging into Bruce Wayne and Batman. They’d brought Clark’s parents up-to-date but none of them could really figure out what the Gotham billionaire’s agenda was.

Chloe had done an in-depth search on Bruce, trying to get an idea of what he was up to. All she had managed to find out so far was that the man had disappeared some years ago, shortly after the man who had been convicted of killing his parents had come up for early parole. The Gotham D.A. had brokered a deal with the man to testify against the local mob in exchange for his early release. Instead, the man had been walking into the courthouse when he’d been shot.

Chloe had told them that according to her sources, none of whom she would reveal, there were two rival mob families in Gotham. Each were fighting to control all of Gotham City’s businesses, including the local police, but Commissioner Jim Gordon was trying to stop the corruption. It had been a losing battle until Batman came along.

Most of the city had conflicting stories on when Batman had first appeared on the scene, but since they knew Bruce Wayne was the man behind the mask, Chloe had managed to follow the trail. Bruce had returned to his city after five years away. At first, it had looked like he was just another playboy, unwilling to take his father’s place in the company his great-grandfather had built, but they now realised it was a smokescreen. As long as Gotham City saw Bruce Wayne as a rich kid living off his family’s money and being generally useless to society, they would never connect him with Batman.

“I have to admit, it’s a good plan,” Chloe had said. “I mean, who’d even think that a notorious playboy is actually the dark knight?”

Lois had looked thoughtfully at Clark. He had no idea what his girlfriend was thinking but there was no possible way such a disguise would work in his case. Besides, he thought, I hate the idea of wearing a mask.

“The thing that gets me,” Lois said as they left the Central Kansas campus late after an afternoon of discussing the problem, “is why would he leave such obvious breadcrumbs?”

“That’s one thing that’s bothering me too,” Clark admitted to her. “I mean, why did he come down to the bullpen that day.”

“Unless he was looking for Andrea,” she replied.

“Or else, he was trying to figure out what we knew.”

She chewed on her lower lip. “I still don’t trust him.”

“Me either.”

They continued to talk it over on the way back to the farm but weren’t able to come up with any conclusions. Clark’s mother greeted them, looking a little flustered.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Clark asked.

“We have to go to Topeka,” she said.

“Again?” Lois asked.

Clark’s dad appeared on the stairs with a suitcase in his hand. “Well, when you’re senator, unfortunately when the governor says jump, you ask ‘how high?’” he said with a sigh.

“Kally’s in the study,” Mom told them. “She wouldn’t go down for her nap earlier and got a bit upset.”

Dad cocked an eyebrow. “Upset is kind of an understatement.” He told them she’d been put in ‘time-out’ after throwing a tantrum. “In my day, she would have got a spanking for that kind of behaviour.”

Lois sighed. “I’m sorry.” Mom shook her head.

“No, honey, it’s not your fault. It’s just a phase she’s going through. You just need to remember to be firm with her.” She smiled. “Now, what were you two talking about?”

“Bruce,” Clark replied. “We can’t figure out what he’s up to.”

“Well, clearly talking about it between yourselves and Chloe isn’t helping, so why don’t you go and talk to him?”

“Your mother’s right, Clark. Obviously, he wouldn’t have revealed his identity if he didn’t expect you to confront him with it.”

Lois looked at him. “We’re dumb,” she said.

Clark shrugged. They probably would have thought of it eventually, he assured her.

Once his parents had left for the airport, Clark sat down with his girlfriend. They discussed a plan to visit Gotham the next day, since it was her day off. He figured they could stay overnight somewhere in Gotham and drive back on the Sunday.

He’d just decided to make a start on dinner for them when Kally appeared. She’d obviously managed to get out of the crib again. Clark went to her but she pulled away.

“Where Grandma and Grandpa?” she asked.

“Grandpa had a meeting in Topeka,” he said.

“Where’s that?”

“A long way away,” he told her, reaching for her to pick her up. Again she avoided him.

“Don’t want you, want Grandpa!” she said.

“Well, Grandpa isn’t here,” he told her firmly. “And if you keep that up you’ll get put in time out again.”

She stamped her foot and pouted, looking angry. Clark gazed sternly at his daughter, but she refused to even look at him. She began crying. Lois got up from her chair and went to her. As soon as Kally saw her mother she begged to be held, sobbing with her face against her mother’s shoulder.

Lois looked at Clark and he shrugged. “Guess it’s my turn to be the bad guy,” he said.

His girlfriend smiled and tried to comfort the crying toddler. “Hey, why don’t we go see if we can find Shelby,” she suggested. She looked again at Clark. He nodded, turning to start cutting up vegetables so Lois could take Kally outside to look for the dog.

He knew she was going to sit her down and talk to her. As much as he tried not to eavesdrop on most things, he figured it couldn’t hurt to listen in on them.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Lois was saying.

The toddler's answer was still mostly babble but Clark had learned to interpret it to make sense.

“How come Grandpa had to go away?”

“Well, Grandpa has a very important job for the government,” Lois explained gently.

“Why come?”

“Because it’s something he believes in.”

It was obvious Kally didn’t understand. It became clear the toddler wanted her grandfather to be around all the time so she would have someone to play with.

Lois seemed to be at a loss as to how to explain to their little girl about her grandfather’s job.

“Why were you mad at Daddy?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Cause Daddy goes away too.”

Uh oh, Clark thought as she went on, mentioning something that had happened a couple of days earlier. He’d been working with his father out in the barn, with Kally ‘supervising’ when Chloe had called him, telling him there was a big fire at a plant in Granville and people were trapped. He’d thought Kally hadn’t noticed him leaving, and he was gone for about a minute, but it seemed she had realised he had left. A minute to a child could seem like a very long time.

“So, you’re upset with Daddy because he went away?” Lois asked.

“Yes.”

“Honey, you know, your daddy has an important job to do too, right?”

It didn’t seem to matter to the little girl, who was clearly at the stage where she wanted everyone’s attention and nothing else was more important than her.

Lois and Kally came back in with Shelby following. Clark smiled as his girlfriend helped their daughter give Shelby his dinner. The pair then went out into the living room where Lois sat in the armchair to read Kally a story.

Clark finished preparing dinner and left it to cook, going out to the living room. His girlfriend smiled up at him and put a finger to her lips.

“She’s asleep,” she whispered. Clark looked down at the child sleeping in her lap. He carefully picked her up and laid her on the couch, covering her with a blanket.

They went back out to the kitchen.

“Houston, we have a problem,” Lois said.

“I know,” he replied in hushed tones. “I was listening.”

“If she’s noticing that stuff now …”

“She’s too young to understand about my abilities,” Clark told her. “I’m not sure what to do.”

“Maybe we need to talk this over with your parents. I mean, they’ve been there before. With you, I mean.”

Clark didn’t even remember what his parents had told him about his abilities. He just remembered being told that he couldn’t show the other kids what he could do. When he’d asked why, his mom and dad had just said he might be taken away from them. The fear of someone taking him away from the two people he depended on had been enough to make him keep quiet about his abilities.

As cautious as his parents had been, however, he realised that the warning had given him a few hang-ups about his differences.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I mean, their intentions were good and all that, but I was afraid for a long, long time. When I was about seven, I was afraid to go to school because I was worried that my mom wouldn’t be there when I got home. It was right around that time they told me I was adopted.” He glanced over toward the living room. “I don’t want her to ever feel that way.”

“You know, I had a lot of questions when you first told me about your abilities. Like, how do you handle being in a car when you can run so fast? Do you even need sleep? I mean, obviously you do because I’ve seen you, but … Now, it’s like I can imagine how frightening it must have been for you. A young kid, not knowing who you really are and having all these things you can do, knowing you’re different but you don’t know why. And then having your parents tell you stuff that would give you nightmares.”

Clark did have nightmares for a while. Terrifying visions in which he’d done something that revealed himself to the wrong person and men in black uniforms – they were always in black – would come and take him away from the farm.

“The thing is, you can’t not go out to these emergencies. I mean, as much as I hate the idea of it taking you away from family stuff, I knew what I was signing up for.” She chewed on her lip. “I really used to hate it when Dad had to go off on missions, but mostly I think because I was afraid he would never come back. I still worry about you, but not in the same way.”

“Lois, you know I will always put you and Kally and anyone else who comes along first.”

“We just have to get used to having to share you with the rest of the world.”

He sighed. The trouble was, a two-year-old didn’t understand that. She was yet to learn about why her grandparents had to go away a lot. She’d been spoiled for much of the first two years of her life. Not that she was a brat by any means, but being surrounded by her family wouldn’t have helped her understand that in the real world, parents and grandparents had jobs and couldn’t always be there for her when she wanted them.

The problem wasn’t going to be easily solved.

Lois left after dinner, taking Kally home so she could work her shift at the Inn. Clark promised to pick her up the next morning for the drive to Gotham. Since they would be staying overnight, they’d already arranged to leave Kally with her grandparents at the Inn.

When Clark arrived, the toddler was demanding to go with them. She saw her father and ran to him, babbling something about not wanting them to go without her. He picked her up.

“Sweetheart, Mommy and I are going to be away all day and all night. But I promise we’ll be back by tomorrow afternoon.”

“No! Wanna go with you!”

Sam came out. “Sweetheart, we talked about this. You know your grandma wants you to help her with your dress.” Kally was going to be flower girl at the wedding. Even if it was only going to be a simple civil ceremony, Bubsy had wanted the toddler to have a job.

Lois joined her father. “I’m sorry, Daddy. She’s going through a phase.”

“Oh, I know only too well.” He smiled at his grand-daughter. “You’re just like your mommy was at your age. She didn’t want me to go away either.” He snickered, turning back to Lois, telling her when she was two she’d had a tantrum refusing to let go of her father and he’d lost his temper. “I don’t know who screamed the loudest. You or me.”

“What did you do when I did that, Dad?”

“Believe me, it broke my heart when I had to go away, seeing your little face looking so sad. Your mom didn’t really know how to explain it either.”

“I’m sorry I was such a troublemaker,” Lois said with a sigh.

“No, don’t ever think that. You were always my little soldier. Your mom used to find it funny that you would follow me everywhere when I was home. Like you were my shadow.”

Lois gently stroked Kally’s hair. “Well, with this one, we seem to take it in turns being the bad guy.”

“That will happen. Once she learns she can’t wrap Mommy or Daddy around her little finger she will start to figure things out. You just have to present a united front and don’t let her play one off against the other.”

Which was similar to the advice Clark’s parents had given them.

Clark handed his daughter over to her grandfather. Sam began chattering to her, distracting her so she wouldn’t have another tantrum. Clark heard him telling her all about her ‘Uncle Will’ who was going to be coming to the wedding.

Bubsy and Sam had gone to Metropolis to meet her son who, it turned out, had been desperate to meet her as well. Having lost both of his adopted parents, he was eager to learn more about his heritage. Mother and son had begun to build a good relationship. It was slow and would probably take time for them to be comfortable with each other, but it was a good start.

Lois was quiet as they set off for Gotham. Clark glanced at her.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I can’t help thinking there’s something else going on with Kally.”

“I don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong. I mean, yeah, there’s been a bit of change in her life in the past couple of months, but I just think she’s just trying to get some level of control, that’s all.” He’d done a little reading on the ‘net the night before, hoping to find something that might explain why Kally was acting up. He realised through his reading that her grandparents leaving the farm so often, and his own brief absences hadn’t helped her sense of security.

“I guess so.”

“Your dad’s right. She’s just upset that she can’t get her own way all the time. I think instead of punishing her when she’s bad, we should praise her when she’s done something good.”

“You mean like positive reinforcement?”

“Something like that.”

The drive to Gotham took a few hours. They stopped off at a diner for something to eat and Lois took over the driving for a while. It was mid-afternoon by the time they arrived. Clark had looked up directions to Wayne Manor and guided Lois through the city streets.

Gotham was not like Metropolis. There appeared to be a grittiness about the streets that wasn’t so obvious in their own city. Metropolis seemed brighter, the buildings less monotone, whereas Gotham looked like a city that was struggling with its own darkness. Given what they knew of the corruption within the city’s police and the ongoing mob wars, it was little wonder it seemed that way.

Wayne Manor was several miles south of the city centre, near the outskirts of the city. Suburban developments had taken up much of the farmland but the estate itself appeared untouched. The main house was high on a hill, overlooking acres of dense forest. Lois stopped the truck outside wrought iron gates.

“There’s an intercom,” Clark told her, pointing out the small box.

Lois leaned out of the window and pressed the button. An accented voice answered.

“Yes?”

“Uh, we’ve come to see Mr Wayne.”

“May I have your name, Miss?”

“Lois. Lois Lane. I’m with Clark Kent.”

There was a brief silence, then the man answered. “Ah, yes, Miss Lane. Drive on through. Follow the road up to the main house. I shall await your arrival.”

She turned and looked at Clark, raising an eyebrow. “He sounds, um, nice. I guess.”

Clark looked around as she drove through the now open gates and up the hill toward the house. There was nothing but dense bush but he still felt a little uneasy. It wasn’t just the fact they were going to meet Batman. It almost felt as if they were expected by the man who had answered the intercom.

The double doors marking the entry to the house were open and two men were standing outside. One of them was aged in his sixties while the other was about forty or so.

Lois pulled the truck to a stop beside the two men and got out. Clark joined her, taking her hand. She squeezed it.

The older man smiled at them. “Miss Lane, Mr Kent, I am Alfred Pennyworth. Mr Wayne’s butler. This is Brendan. He will take your truck to the garage.”

“Uh, we were going to stay …”

“Nonsense,” Alfred interjected before Clark could tell him they’d already planned to stay in a motel. “There is plenty of room.”

They had no choice but to hand over the key to the truck and follow Alfred inside.

“Master Wayne will see you in the library,” Alfred told them. “He is most pleased you accepted his invitation.”

“But we …” Lois began. Clark squeezed her hand and shook his head before she could say any more. Obviously, Bruce had been expecting them. Clark was sure the man had some ulterior motive for revealing his ‘other identity’.

Alfred left them in the library, which was curiously empty. Aside from the massive bookshelves which lined two of the walls, there was a grand piano near the fireplace. A comfortable-looking leather suite was placed in the centre of the room.

Lois made as if she was going to sit down on the couch but turned to the piano, gently stroking the keys. She pressed down on the white keys. Clark frowned, wondering why one of the notes appeared to be off slightly. He squinted, using x-ray to check out the instrument. There appeared to be some kind of electronic mechanism inside.

Curiouser and curiouser, he thought, his gaze sweeping around the room. His eyes widened and he stepped back in surprise. Behind one of the bookcases was what looked like some kind of doorway.

Lois must have seen his movement. “What is it?”

“There’s some kind of doorway behind the bookshelf,” he told her.

“Interesting, Mr Kent. I wonder how you managed to see that.”

Clark whirled and stared at Bruce Wayne. “I …”

The older man waved his hand. “Oh, don’t apologise. I find it rather tiresome, myself.”

Lois looked at him. “So, what do we call you? Mr Wayne, or Batman?”

He smirked. “Straight for the jugular. That’s one thing I admire about you, Miss Lane. I take it that’s an inherited trait. I hear your father isn’t one to beat about the bush either.”

“Yet you haven’t answered my question,” she returned.

“Forgive me,” he said with an affected bow. “You can call me Bruce. At least, in this persona.”

“You make it sound like Batman is another identity,” Clark pointed out.

“Touche, Mr Kent. Or perhaps I should just call you, The Blur?”

“What do you know about it?” Lois asked.

“Enough.”

“Please, do enlighten us,” Clark said coolly. “You’re the one who left the breadcrumbs. Why would you out yourself like that?”

“Maybe I was curious to see what you would do with the information,” Bruce replied.

“So this was, what, some kind of test?” Lois accused. “You manipulated us.”

“A test? Hmm, yes, I suppose it was. If it’s any consolation, you both passed with flying colours. I was half-expecting to see my name plastered all over the Daily Planet.”

Clark huffed. “You’re really full of yourself, aren’t you?”

“And you’re not?”

“At least he doesn’t go around dressed like a bat,” Lois pointed out.

“No, but then, from what I hear, he doesn’t need to.”

“I have to ask. Why a bat?” Clark said.

“Why not? Bats are, shall we say, rather unappealing creatures. People generally avoid them. At worst, fear them. There is a reason bats are connected to vampires after all.”

“I don’t think you did this out of curiosity at all,” Clark told him.

“And what do you really think I was doing? Inviting you for tea and scones?”

Lois huffed. “We don’t have to stay here and play his game. Come on, Smallville.” She turned to leave. The door opened before she could get there and Alfred came in carrying a tray loaded with what looked like a coffee pot.

“Some coffee for your guests, Master Wayne. Unless you would both prefer tea?”

“Actually, Mr Pennyworth …”

“Coffee’s fine, Alfred,” Bruce said dismissively. The older man shot him a look but placed the tray on the table in front of the couch before leaving the room.

Bruce waved toward the furniture. “Sit, please.”

Clark shook his head. “Not until you tell us what you really want from us.”

“Not you, plural. Just you, Mr Kent. Although I have it on good authority you and Miss Lane are practically engaged.”

“Could you just stop pussyfooting around?” Lois practically exploded.

“All right. If you insist. Frankly, I’m concerned. I’ve done quite a bit of research since I learned about the Blur and what I’ve heard worries me a great deal. A man with your level of superhuman abilities is capable of pretty much anything he sets his mind to. I needed to reassure myself that you are who you appear to be.”

Clark frowned at him. What kind of things could the man have discovered? Had he connected Clark with the crimes he’d committed in Metropolis while on Red K? It seemed more than likely.

“Look, I admit, I’ve done some things I’m not proud of, but I’m not a threat to you. Or to Batman.”

“Smallville, you don’t have to explain anything to him.”

Bruce looked at her then at Clark with a sly smirk. “Does your girlfriend always speak for you?”

“Lois supports me. And yes, we are planning on getting married in the future. Just not yet.”

“I see.”

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Lois told him.

“It is when I have to consider the possibility I may have to one day protect the rest of the world from him.” Bruce looked at Clark again. “Like I said, a man with your abilities is capable of anything. Even destruction.”

It occurred to Clark to wonder how Bruce knew about his abilities. There weren’t that many people who had seen him in action.

“How exactly did you find out about my abilities?” he asked. “I think I’d know if someone had been following me.”

Lois looked at him, then back at Bruce. “Yeah, how did you know?”

Bruce regarded them silently before sitting down and pouring himself a coffee.

“Who have you been talking to?” Clark prodded. He watched the man carefully. “Pete Ross?” The man’s expression didn’t change.

“Lana Lang?” Lois asked. Again the expression didn’t change.

Clark sighed. There were only two other people that he knew of and he asked again.

“What about Bart Allen? Or Arthur Curry?”

Still no reaction.

“Those names mean nothing to me. All I will tell you is the information came via a fellow, well, as the papers are calling us, vigilante.”

“Green Arrow,” Lois blurted. “It has to be him.”

Clark nodded. He’d had a run-in with the man clad in green leather over a month earlier. He’d caught him breaking into a mansion and stealing a valuable piece of jewellery. The other man had seen his face but hadn’t stuck around long enough for Clark to learn his identity.

“So, who is he?” Clark asked.

Bruce shook his head. He obviously wasn’t going to give away the man’s identity. It seemed hypocritical considering it was Green Arrow who had exposed Clark. The question was, why? What could Green Arrow hope to gain?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Where Kally is concerned, I figured she would be old enough to start noticing a few things and Clark isn't always careful around her. With all the changes at the farm, it would be easy to see how the little girl could feel unsettled, hence the tantrums.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lois reads the riot act

Lois lay in bed next to Clark but while he was out like a light, she was unable to sleep. Everything Bruce had said to them kept going around and around in her head.

He obviously wasn’t going to give away the identify of Green Arrow, which seemed like a double-standard to her, since Green Arrow must have outed Clark to him, but she wondered if he had kept the truth from them as yet another test.

Maybe they were supposed to figure out Green Arrow’s identity on their own. Which to her meant that the clues were there. They just needed to put the pieces together.

She rolled over and tried to relax, but sleep wouldn’t come. Deciding there was no use fighting it, she got up, putting on her bathrobe, and went downstairs. There was a light underneath a door off the dining room and she assumed it was the kitchen. She gently pushed the door open.

“Oh,” she said. Alfred was at the stove, stirring something in a saucepan. “I’m sorry.”

He smiled up at her. “Quite all right, Miss Lane.” He took the pan off the stovetop. “Hot cocoa. I find it helps me sleep. Would you care for some?”

“Um, yes, please.”

She sat at the small table as he found another mug and poured a cup for each of them.

“Sugar, Miss Lane?”

“No, thank you. This will be fine.”

He sat down opposite her.

“I understand you have a child.”

Lois didn’t think it was really any of his business, but nodded.

“Yes. She just turned two.”

“Forgive me, but you are awfully young.”

“I’m not sure that it’s really any of your concern, Mr Pennyworth.”

“I apologise, Miss Lane. And please, call me Alfred.”

“What exactly do you do here?”

“Officially, I was Mr Thomas and Miss Martha’s butler.”

Lois frowned at him. “Bruce’s mother was named Martha?” she asked. She hadn’t read that far in the articles about Bruce. “So is Clark’s mom.”

“Yes, so I hear. I believe the name is derived from the Aramaic word for mistress, or the feminine of master. She is also, I believe a biblical figure. However it came about, it is a name for a woman of great strength of character. Mrs Wayne was indeed such a woman. As well, I believe, is Martha Kent.”

“She is that,” Lois agreed. “But you were explaining your position here.”

“Indeed. When Mr Thomas and Miss Martha died, may they rest in peace, their wills stated that I should assume guardianship of the young master and guide him until he was old enough to choose his own path in life.” He sighed. “Sadly, Master Wayne does not always take my advice to heart.”

“In what way?” she asked.

“I believe you know of his, uh, occupation?”

“As Batman?” The older man nodded.

“As much as I applaud his desire to end corruption in Gotham, I would have preferred he choose something … safer.”

“I know the feeling. I mean, my dad’s a general in the army. When I was a kid, he was always going off on missions. I worried he wouldn’t come home.”

“Your concerns are justified. I spent time in the British military myself, many years ago.”

“How did you come to work for the Waynes, then?”

“My father was the Wayne family butler before his death. I chose to retire from the military and Mr Wayne asked me to come to work for him.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Again, please do not think I am, as you Americans like to say, poking my nose into something that is not my business, but … your child. Where is she tonight?”

She liked the older man. It was patently obvious his query was of a fatherly nature, given his own surrogate father relationship with Bruce.

“With her grandparents. Well, my dad and stepmom. Bubsy.”

He looked confused at the name. “Bubsy?”

“Her name’s Annie, but she’s always preferred me to call her Bubsy. She owns the Smallville Inn. That’s where I met her when …”

In spite of her initial reticence, she found herself telling the older man how she had come to Smallville and how Clark had found out about his daughter and began helping her raise Kally but at the same time encouraging Lois to further her education.

“I must say, Master Clark seems like a remarkable young man,” Alfred observed with admiration in his tone. “As remarkable as you, Miss Lois. Not every teenager would …”

“Yes, remarkable indeed,” Bruce interjected.

Lois started and turned to look at him. He’d apparently entered the kitchen without either of them noticing.

“How long have you been there?”

“Long enough,” the man replied. “Shouldn’t you be in bed? It’s two in the morning.”

“Shouldn’t you?” she returned snarkily.

“Bats are nocturnal,” he responded. He went to make his own drink.

“And on that note, Miss Lois, I shall bid you good night,” Alfred said, getting up to put his mug in the sink. He winked at her as he left.

Lois got up to put her own mug in the sink, doing her best to ignore the urge to tell the dark-haired man off for his behaviour.

“Was it something I said?” Bruce asked.

“Well, you’d know,” she replied.

Bruce grasped her arm, stopping her from leaving. “If you have a problem with me, Lois, then say so.”

She pulled her arm out of his grip. “First of all, it’s Miss Lane. You haven’t earned the right to call me by my first name. Second, what the hell is your malfunction?”

“Excuse me?”

“You basically lured us here … well, not us, more Clark, and for what? Testing him? Studying him?”

“Clark is dangerous.”

“So is a man with a gun. So are you, given the right tools. I mean, who the hell are you to stand there and judge Smallville for his abilities? If you actually got your head out of your ass and took the time to get to know him, you might find he’s a pretty good guy.”

“Right. So good he runs away to Metropolis and commits any number of felonies.”

Lois glared at him. Clark had explained everything to her about the red K and what he’d done the summer they’d met, but it didn’t mean he owed this man the same explanation.

“Yeah? Well, from what I hear, you were doing the same thing in Asia.” Chloe had managed to uncover an arrest record. The details had been incomplete, but there had been enough for them to figure out it was Bruce and what he’d been doing.

“Merely educating myself on the minds of criminals,” Bruce responded mildly.

“Clark doesn’t need to explain himself to you.”

“Well, he should.”

“Why? So you can stand there on your high horse and pretend you’re better than him? At least he can own up to his mistakes and learn from them.”

He regarded her coolly. “What is it about Clark Kent that demands such loyalty?”

She huffed. “I love him. And he’s the father of my child. That’s all you need to know.”

He appeared amused. “I’ve heard it said to never get between a mama bear and her cub. I can see it’s true.”

“You’re damn right it’s true! You want to know more about us? Then stop with the games! If you want to know anything, just ask instead of going around in circles. Oh, and FYI, if you ever do anything to hurt Clark or my daughter, I will make you regret it. Am I clear?”

“As crystal, Miss Lane.”

She went back up to bed and curled up next to her boyfriend. He rolled over and spooned against her, nuzzling her neck.

“So, I guess I should be glad you’re on my side, Mama Bear,” he murmured.

She pushed him away and rolled over to face him. “You were listening? Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to eavesdrop, Smallville?”

“I don’t know,” he drawled. “You can hear interesting things when you do.”

She pushed him onto his back and straddled him. He cupped her face, caressing her cheek and tucking her hair behind her ear. She kissed him, laughing down at him.

He looked up at her. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For defending me. Loving me.”

She smiled. “That part’s easy,” she said. “You love me. Even trade.”

He pulled her down so she could lay her head on his chest. The steady rhythm of his heartbeat and the warmth and love she felt from him soon lulled her to sleep.

They were roused for breakfast around nine by a gentle knock on the door by Alfred. Lois quickly dressed, giggling a little as Clark super-sped into his clothes.

“You know, sometimes I wish I had super-speed,” she said. “Cleaning the Inn would be a breeze.”

He grinned. “Yeah, it would be. I had this party at the farm once. Well, it wasn’t really meant to be a party, just a few people over for drinks and snacks and maybe some movies. About a hundred kids showed up and it all got out of hand. You should have seen the mess. It took me about a minute to clean it all.”

“Where were your parents when this party was going on?”

“They were in Metropolis for their anniversary. Anyway, Mom tried calling a couple of times and when they couldn’t get me they came home. I was grounded for about a month for that.”

“You better hope Kally doesn’t do that when she becomes a teenager,” Lois replied, just picturing the chaos.

Clark looked at her. “You’re kidding, right? There is no way she’ll be going to any parties.”

“And who’s going to stop her, Smallville? You? She’ll have you wrapped around her little finger.”

“She will not!” he told her vehemently.

Lois wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Yes, she will. Because you’re just a big softy when it comes to our little girl.”

They went downstairs to breakfast. Bruce was sitting at the dining table reading a newspaper. Lois shot her boyfriend a look, telling him silently not to say anything about what he’d overheard the night before. She wanted to see whether Bruce had actually taken anything away from their conversation.

Alfred came out of the kitchen with a platter of pancakes. They quickly helped themselves, pouring maple syrup over them.

“These are great, Alfred,” Lois told him.

“Almost as good as Mom’s,” Clark said. Lois kicked him under the table and he shot her a confused look.

“I shall take that as a compliment, Master Clark,” Alfred replied. “From what Miss Lois tells me, your mother is an excellent cook.”

Bruce rustled the paper. Clark frowned at him. “Aren’t you eating, Bruce?”

“I don’t usually …” He paused, then leaned forward. “I suppose I can have a pancake.”

Alfred left the room again. The dark-haired man helped himself to something to eat then looked at Clark.

“I owe you an apology, Clark,” he said. “I may have been out of line with some of the things I said yesterday.”

Clark looked surprised at the other man’s apparent change of tack.

“And what exactly are you apologising for?” Lois asked, wondering if he was still trying to manipulate them.

He gazed at her for a long moment before continuing.

“I should never have judged you on what little information I had.”

“So, what are you suggesting?” Clark asked.

“I believe we can help each other. I think we should take the time to get to know one another.”

Clark nodded. “All right. But there’s something we need to know.”

“As long as it’s not about Green Arrow …”

“Why not?” Lois asked. “He didn’t have any qualms about telling you about Clark.”

“He didn’t tell me much more than I already knew. Perhaps he shouldn’t have revealed Clark’s identity. That’s on him. But I can understand why. I’ve already explained my feelings about your ability, Clark. Put it this way. If you were in my place, finding out about someone with incredible powers, wouldn’t you be a little worried?”

“Maybe I would,” Clark admitted. “But you still went about it the wrong way.”

“I’ve already been read the riot act, thank you.” Bruce looked calmly at Lois. “I have to admit, I admire a woman who has the strength to stand by her partner.”

“Lois is certainly one of a kind,” Clark told him, with a smile at Lois. She smiled back at him. “Anyway, I’m not asking about Green Arrow. What were you doing at the Daily Planet that day? In the bullpen?”

“As if we couldn’t guess,” Lois interjected.

“I knew you were too astute not to. Yes, I was there to see Andrea Rojas. She’s fine, by the way. Under my protection.”

“You’re just going to let her get away with two murders?” Lois asked.

“Andrea knows what she did was wrong. She’s a rather headstrong young woman. Not unlike yourself, L … Miss Lane. It would be hypocritical of me to take her to task over what she did when I was about to commit the same crime over the man who killed my parents. It was just fortunate, or unfortunate, however you want to look at it, that Carmine Falcone’s people got there first.”

“Falcone?” Lois remembered him as the leader of one of the mob families which currently ruled Gotham’s organised crime.

Bruce nodded. “I believe he was the man responsible for the murders of my parents.”

“So, what are you planning on doing with Andrea?” Clark asked.

“What do you think I should do?”

Lois frowned at him, wondering if he genuinely did want to hear their opinion.

“Well, I think she should at least face some sort of punishment,” Lois said.

Clark nodded in agreement. “Killing someone, no matter what they’ve done, shouldn’t be the answer.”

“Are you suggesting she should be put in prison among the very people she was fighting against? At the very least, she could be seriously hurt. Worst case scenario, she could become one of them. While I agree there needs to be some kind of penalty, placing her among criminals solves nothing.”

“Isn’t that what you did in Asia?” Clark asked.

“Yes, but I was there for a reason.”

“Oh, please, enlighten us,” Lois told him. “I’m very curious to know how you went from committing crimes in Asia to becoming Batman.”

“All in good time. We were talking about Andrea. I think she can be rehabilitated but not through the prison system. You’re right. Killing isn’t the answer. As bad as Lionel Luthor was, he didn’t deserve to be murdered. Nor did our gang member. I sent her to stay at a retreat. She will be working with a psychotherapist. Once I’m satisfied she has dealt with her issues over what happened to her and her mother, I’ll bring her back and begin training her on how to use her abilities. For good.”

He paused for a moment before continuing. “That wasn’t the only reason I was at the Daily Planet. Are you aware the publisher is considering selling?”

Lois frowned. She hadn’t heard anything and was sure Chloe would have known.

“No, we weren’t.”

“I was there that day to talk to the publisher. To try and discover if there had been any other parties interested in buying out the newspaper.”

“And is there?”

He nodded. “Our old friend, Lex. He has recently been wooing the publisher. I’m afraid I might have had a hand in that. I visited Lex the day after Lionel was killed and mentioned the rumour.”

“So, if Lex manages to buy the Daily Planet, we can blame you for that?” Lois asked.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t get that far,” Bruce replied. “I can’t imagine anything worse than someone like Lex owning a newspaper and being able to quash any negative press about Luthorcorp.”

The conversation eventually moved on to how Bruce had become Batman. After witnessing the murder of Joe Chill, the man who had been convicted of murdering his parents, and realising it had been engineered by Carmine Falcone, Bruce had confronted the man. Falcone had practically laughed him out of the club, calling him a naïve rich kid who knew nothing of the real world. Deciding the man had a point, Bruce had bought his way onto a freighter to Hong Kong. From there, he’d managed to join a criminal gang. He’d been caught by authorities and sent to prison, only to be released by the Chinese government after Amnesty International had caught wind of an American being imprisoned in inhumane conditions.

Bruce had returned to Gotham, older and much, much wiser. He’d already begun forming a plan while in prison on how he was going to avenge his parents’ murders and end the corruption in his city. It was an ambitious plan but he knew enough about the criminal world to be able to use their own tactics of threats and intimidation against them.

Knowing they had to get back to Smallville, Clark and Lois left shortly before noon but made Bruce promise to keep in contact. Lois was satisfied that he’d actually listened to everything she’d said to him but was also prepared to follow through on his promise to really get to know Clark. He wasn’t completely assured that Clark wasn’t dangerous to him, but he was at least open-minded.

Lois was glad to get home, eager to see her daughter. The few hours they’d spent with Bruce had been difficult. He was a taciturn man, not given to humour and he didn’t seem to understand the gentle teasing she would give Clark.

She’d been left alone with him for a few minutes while Clark was exploring the grounds. She had begged off, pleading tiredness and Alfred had offered to show her boyfriend around.

“I have to admit, I still don’t get you two,” Bruce said.

“Like what?”

“An army brat and a farmboy. You just don’t seem the type to fall for someone like him.”

“Well, people can surprise you. Clark is a lot more than the farm.”

“That I get.” They hadn’t told him the truth about Clark’s heritage, figuring that was one of the things he would learn eventually in the process of getting to know them. The right way, instead of practically ambushing them.

They had told the man the circumstances of their meeting in Metropolis and how Kally had come to be. He had said little about the way they’d chosen to raise their daughter, or of their plans for the future.

He still didn’t seem to understand how she could support her boyfriend, especially after the way they’d met. She explained that it had taken time for the feelings to grow.

“Having a child together doesn’t automatically mean you instantly fall in love with someone. I mean, a lot of people make that mistake.”

“So, Kally is a mistake then.”

“No, she’s not,” Lois told him firmly. “She will never be a mistake!”

He frowned, looking confused. “I still don’t get it. You both made a mistake, but your child is not a mistake? How does that work exactly?”

He would clearly never understand her feelings for her daughter and just how special she was. It was nothing to do with her being half-Kryptonian. Just as it had nothing to do with the circumstances of her conception.

“Did you ever meet someone and feel like somehow you were always destined to meet?”

He laughed hollowly and shook his head. “I don’t believe in that nonsense.”

“I didn’t either, until I fell in love with Smallville. It’s not just because of what he can do. It’s who he is. He’s kind and thoughtful and we’re partners in every way that matters.”

“But you don’t have any abilities,” he pointed out. “How can you be equal?”

“You don’t have to have powers to be equal,” she told him. “My mom wasn’t a soldier, but she saw it as her job to be there for my dad when he had to go away on missions. They were in it together. And when he came home, she represented a normal life. Made his burdens easier to bear.”

“And you think that’s your responsibility with Clark?”

“It is,” she said, nodding assuredly.

“Are you sure this isn’t just because of Kally?” Bruce asked.

“Even if there were no Kally, I’d love him.” The man scoffed. She glared at him. “You don’t believe in love, do you?”

“I’ve loved only three people in my life, Lois … sorry, Miss Lane. Two of them are dead and one … he doesn’t believe in what I’m doing.”

“He worries about you. He wishes you’d try to fight the corruption another way, maybe through the business world, instead of hand-to-hand combat. I get it,” she said before he could respond. “Guys like Falcone – they’re way too powerful for honest businessmen to fight. You go about town pretending to be this spoiled rich kid, trying to make out you’re no threat to them. Especially in business. It’s a good strategy, but it’s lonely. I mean, what happens when you meet someone who could potentially be the love of your life, but the act you put on just pushes her away? What then? No one should go through life alone.”

She gazed at him. His expression was unreadable. She had no idea if what she had said had got through to him.

“I have to admit, I didn’t like you at first. I still don’t like you very much, but at least you listened to what I had to say and you’re willing to do things our way. If you’re really interested in joining forces with Clark, so to speak, then I’m willing to help you build if not a friendship with Clark, then at least something that’s less adversarial.”

He smiled suddenly, his mask of indifference cracking just a little.

“I was right about you, Lois Lane. You’re not just very astute, you’re bright, beautiful and brilliant. And may I say, more than a match for Clark. Powers or no. I can see why he loves you.”

“Hey, you awake?” Lois looked up at Clark, pulled out of her reverie. She realised they were reaching the Smallville city limits.

“I was miles away,” she said.

“Yeah, I could tell. What were you and Bruce talking about when I was out with Alfred?”

“You mean, you didn’t eavesdrop?” she asked.

“I figured he was safe enough since you didn’t go all Mama Bear on him.”

She snorted. “You’re not going to let me hear the end of that, are you?”

“I have to get my kicks in somehow, since you seem to love yanking my chain.”

“Well, that’s my job.” She sighed. “Bruce was asking about our relationship. He couldn’t seem to get how we can be partners when I don’t have powers.”

“It’s not about having powers,” he said, repeating what she’d told the Gotham billionaire. “You’re my partner because you’re by my side.”

She chewed on her lower lip. “What if something bad happens and you don’t get there in time because you’re with me or Kally?” It was something that had been worrying her, despite what she’d said to Bruce.

“Lois, I don’t think one of my powers is going to be omniscience. The thing is, we can’t predict what’s going to happen at any given moment. I mean, anything could have happened in Metropolis this weekend, which meant I would have had to leave you in Gotham, but it didn’t. Does that mean it’s never going to happen when we’re together? No. But part of having these abilities is knowing when to let go. If I went out to every emergency – especially something that the local emergency services can handle, that would only make them resent me. The one thing I’ve had to learn the hard way, especially after Ryan, is that I can’t save everyone.”

She nodded, remembering the story he’d told her about the young boy he’d saved from his stepfather only for him to die a year later from a brain tumour.

“I guess it’s like being a cop. I mean, even when they’re off duty they’re still a cop, but sometimes bad things happen with or without them.”

“It doesn’t mean they don’t wish they could have been there and done something about it. I mean, there could be a massive earthquake in say, New Zealand, and people could still die before I get there. Does that mean I should feel bad because I didn’t get there in time to stop it?”

“Well, no. Even you can’t stop an earthquake from happening.”

“That’s what I mean. Bad things are going to happen, Lois, with or without me. The best thing I can do is help those who can be saved and try to prevent what I can. If I ran around trying to stop every crime from happening, I wouldn’t have time for anything else.”

“Even superheroes need their rest,” she put in, finally getting the gist of what he was saying. It was as she had said to Bruce. Her mother had done it and now it was her job to make Clark’s burden easier to bear.

The Inn was quiet when Clark pulled up outside. They’d had no guests booked for the weekend so it was no surprise it was quiet.

Lois got out of the truck, moving to grab her overnight bag. Clark got there before her.

“I got it,” he said. “Go on in. I’m sure you’re missing Kally.”

She grinned at him. He might not be telepathic, but he always seemed to know what she was thinking. She went inside, frowning as the front desk appeared just as quiet. She heard voices in the kitchen and followed the sound. Bubsy, her father, Lucy, Jenny, who was the chef and a couple of boys from the base were cleaning the kitchen. Even Kally was doing her bit, ‘helping’ her grandmother scrub the grout.

A tall man was also working alongside her father. He spotted her and nudged the older man, who looked up and smiled.

“Hello, sweetheart. Since the Inn was quiet, we thought it was a good time to rally the troops for a spring clean.”

The tall man smiled and wiped his hand on a towel before approaching her.

“Hi, I’m Will. I’m guessing you’re Lois.” She realised from the photograph she had seen that this was Bubsy’s son.

She had no chance to respond as Kally rushed to her. “Mommy! I missed you, Mommy!”

She picked up her daughter. “Aww, I missed you too, baby.” She looked around. “Wow! You’ve had everybody working hard, Dad.”

Her father grinned, giving his grand-daughter a nudge. “Yep, even Kally’s been helping. Haven’t you sweetheart.”

Clark came in from the back. He’d obviously already taken Lois’ bag to the cabin.

“Wow! The place looks even cleaner than the farmhouse.”

“And we know how particular your mom is about cleaning,” the general teased, reminding Lois of the last annual clean of the farmhouse where Martha had basically cracked the whip and set everyone a task. Even the general had been ordered to work, which had prompted him to salute her as he would a superior officer. Martha’s nickname from then on had been General Kent.

If the farmhouse hadn’t passed the white glove inspection, they were made to do the task again until it passed muster.

When the troops had finished cleaning the Inn, Bubsy ordered takeout for them all. Clark volunteered to pick it up.

Lois noticed Will and his mother talking quietly on the loveseat in the dining room while sharing some lemonade. Jenny was chatting to the two soldiers.

She bounced Kally on her knee. The little girl giggled, clearly loving her mother playing with her. Lucy sat beside her, teasing the toddler.

“So did it go in Gotham, sweetheart?” her father asked. They’d told him they’d gone to see if they could get an interview with Bruce for an article they were working on.

“It was good,” she said. “I think we got what we needed.”

“That’s great.”

“So, how has Kally been this weekend?” she asked, worrying that her little girl might have had another tantrum after they’d left.

“She was fine, sweetheart.” He admitted she’d had a couple of moments, especially when it had grown dark and her mother wasn’t home. “You just have to remember that she’s still learning about how the world works and it’s all just a bit confusing for her. She’ll settle down. You just have to be patient with her, that’s all.”

She nodded, hugging her daughter, grateful for her father’s wisdom.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clark's study for finals is interrupted.

With finals coming up, Clark knew they wouldn’t have much time to devote to their efforts to unmask Green Arrow. As much as Lois wanted to do some more digging, even she had to admit that their studies were more important. Now that she had got the journalism bug, as she called it, she was determined to get a good job at a good newspaper, rather than a rag like the Metropolis Inquisitor.

The Inn was going to be busy for a couple of days with the wedding. The General and Bubsy had a few friends they wanted to invite and most of them had opted to stay at the Inn. Lois tried not to complain, but Clark could tell she was getting a bit frazzled with trying to divide her time between her studies, their daughter and helping with preparations for the wedding. Even if it was going to be a small, informal affair, there was still much to do.

Kally was learning fast. She still tried to play one parent off against the other and thought it was a great game, but Clark and Lois had quickly learned not to take their daughter’s tantrums to heart. She was merely testing her boundaries and as long as they remained firm and didn’t give in to her demands, it was fine.

It wasn’t easy for them, since Lois still lived behind the Inn and Clark lived on the farm, but they had made the decision together that they would not move in together until they were both able to earn enough money to support their family. That sometimes made it difficult making sure that their decisions for their daughter were on the same wavelength but she was a happy child all the same and didn’t seem to notice anything unusual about the way she was being brought up. That would most likely change when she started school, Clark thought. She would probably see the way other families were and start to ask questions. That was still at least three years away.

Clark was sitting on one of the couches in the parlour when Kally came in, chewing on a banana, which he figured his mother had left out for her before she and his father had gone to the town meeting. He’d brought his daughter to the farm for a couple of hours so Lois could study for a final which was the next day.

“Hi, sweetheart. What you got there?”

“’Nana,” she said. She approached him, holding the fruit out. Clark quickly moved his books out of the way before the little girl could get her sticky hands on them. He lifted her into his lap and she ate the rest of the banana. Once she was done, she leaned over the coffee table.

“What’s that, Daddy?”

“Books, sweetie. I’m studying for finals.” He knew she wouldn’t understand but it didn’t matter.

“Why?”

“Why am I studying? It’s so I can get a degree and a good job.”

“Why?”

“Well, because I need to earn money to help your mom support you.” He jabbed her lightly in the ribs. “’Cause you keep growing out of your clothes.”

She squealed. “Daddy! Tickles.”

“You’re ticklish, huh?” He continued to tickle her, making her giggle, before lifting her top and blowing a raspberry on her stomach.

She tried to tickle him in return but of course it didn’t work. They continued to play until Shelby came in, wondering what the noise was. Kally wriggled off his lap and got down on her knees to wrap her arms around the dog’s neck. She looked pleadingly up at her father.

“Play horsie, Daddy?”

He could never resist when she looked up at him with those big blue eyes, so like his own. Hoping none of his friends dropped by, he got down on all fours and Kally climbed onto his back. She kicked her little legs and uttered something that sounded a little like ‘giddy up’. He’d taken Lois out on one of the horses for a ride and had let the two-year-old sit in front of him. That must have been where she’d learned the command.

He did his best to pretend to be a horse, even trying to make the horse sounds while Kally babbled commands. As weird as it felt to pretend to be an animal, he loved doing anything to make his daughter happy. Shelby got in on the game, wuffing happily.

He wasn’t expecting a pair of feet encased in very expensive loafers to appear in front of him. Startled, he almost tossed his daughter off his back in his haste to look up at the visitor. Bruce Wayne grabbed the toddler and held her awkwardly.

Clark got to his feet. “Uh, Bruce.” He took the little girl from the man and held her in his arms. Kally peered at the newcomer, her forehead creased in a frown.

“Don’t you keep your doors locked around here?” Bruce asked.

He shrugged. “Small town. It’s not like anyone’s going to try to break in, anyway. Not while I’m here.”

“I see.”

“What brings you to Smallville?” he asked, going to the kitchen to put some milk in a sippy cup for his daughter.

“Well, I had to talk to your dad about something and I figured I’d take you and Lois up on your invitation.”

What invitation? Clark thought, then remembered Lois had told the Gotham billionaire he needed to take the time to get to know them. He sat Kally down on her chair at the table. It had a booster seat so she could eat with the grown-ups. The toddler whimpered, clearly wanting to sit on his lap. He sat down and let her sit with him. She continued to stare at the visitor while drinking her milk.

“Cute kid,” Bruce said. “How old is she?”

“She just turned two last month.” While he was glad Bruce had actually listened to his girlfriend, his visit was rather bad timing. Clark didn’t know how to say so without being rude.

The other man didn’t seem to notice, keeping up a casual conversation for a few minutes until Clark heard a car pull up.

His mother smiled at the visitor as she came in.

“Mr Wayne, it’s nice to see you. Are you here for the wedding?”

Bruce cocked an eyebrow. “Wedding?”

The redhead nodded. “Lois’ father is getting married on Saturday.”

“Oh, of course. The lovely lady at the Smallville Inn. Good lord, is it really this weekend? I had no idea.”

Clark’s father came in. “Hey Clark,” he said, “whose car is …” He noticed the visitor. “Oh. Mr Wayne.”

Bruce got up and went to shake the older man’s hand. The blond farmer took the proffered hand.

“Mr Kent, or I should say, Senator.”

“Jonathan is fine. What brings you here?”

“I actually had something I wanted to discuss with you. It’s to do with some business deals in Metropolis.”

“I’m not sure I’m the right person.”

“Actually, sir, you are. It’s a project that would benefit the community and an endorsement from yourself would go a long way to seeing it to fruition.”

“I see. Well, of course I’ll do what I can to help. If, as you say, it’s of benefit to the community.”

Bruce smiled. “Great. If it’s all right with you, I can come by tomorrow morning. I’m sure Clark still has college finals he needs to take.”

“Only a couple more,” Clark told him, wondering why the man was acting so jovial.

“All right, Mr Wayne … Bruce. How about you come about nine-thirty? That’s not too early for you, is it? With your, uh, night … job.”

Bruce smiled. “Oh, don’t worry. Batman isn’t planning on making any appearance in Metropolis. I’ll leave that to the Blur.” He turned to leave.

“Oh, why don’t you stay for dinner?” Clark’s mother suggested.

“Thank you, Mrs Kent. I appreciate the hospitality but I must decline. I don’t want to impose.”

“Nonsense. You’re not imposing at all.” She frowned. “Oh, but then I suppose you are used to, uh …”

“The finer things in life?” he replied with a smile. “Actually, Alfred is rather good at making sure I’m not too spoiled by cooking simple fare. I do eat out, but only when I’m trying to cultivate a certain image.” He smirked. It was clear he enjoyed the game of creating a public persona of an empty-headed playboy.

“Then I insist you stay for dinner. It’s no bother. Lois and her family will be here for dinner as well.”

Clark shot him a look. If there was one thing he knew it was that his mother could be persistent. Bruce studied him for a moment before turning back to her.

“Then how can I refuse such a gracious invitation. I’d be delighted, Mrs Kent.”

“Please, call me Martha.”

He smiled. “Martha was my mother’s name,” he said. “She was the kindest, most wonderful woman, but I suppose I’m biased.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Clark told him.

He looked down at his daughter. She’d fallen asleep in his arms. “Excuse me. I just need to go put her down.”

He carried her into the study and laid her down in the crib, making sure her teddy bear was close by. He tiptoed out, pulling the door to until it was just slightly ajar.

Bruce was standing by the table, clearly waiting for him. Clark’s parents were in the kitchen.

“So, why don’t you show me around the farm? Or is that going to cut into your study time?”

“No, it’s fine,” Clark said. “I pretty much have a photographic memory.” He smiled ruefully. “Remembering facts are easy. Rearranging them into some sort of cohesive structure, that’s hard.” At least one of his exams included essays.

He showed the man a little of the farm before leading him to the barn. Shelby followed. They went upstairs to the loft.

“This is usually where I study, but I figured Lois needed the quiet time today, so I took Kally for the afternoon.” There were too many implements and hazards for the little girl to be allowed to wander the farm unsupervised.

“I have to admit, I admire the fact that you didn’t shy away from your responsibilities. I mean, raising a child … especially when you’re both so young.”

Clark shrugged. “There are a lot of people like us doing the same thing.”

“Of course, but none have your rather unique circumstances. Your abilities, I mean. If Kally had been adopted out …”

Clark nodded, knowing what the man was getting at. It was something that had worried him when the General had come looking for his daughter. It would have been terrible if someone had adopted her and then given her to the government once she started showing her abilities. Lois had mentioned it once and had told him the thought had terrified her.

“Does she have any abilities?” Bruce asked curiously.

“Other than a slightly higher-than-normal metabolism, no. My birth father doesn’t think they’ll start to show up until she reaches puberty.”

“Whenever that is,” Bruce added. “It must be difficult for you. Especially after what Lex did. You don’t want to be over-protective but at the same time you know that if your enemies were to learn you have a family …”

“They could target them,” Clark finished. “Yeah, that thought occurred to me. But Lois reminded me that it’s the same as being a cop. It doesn’t stop them from having families.”

“I suppose. I doubt I will ever walk that side of the street.”

“Why?” Clark asked.

“I lost someone. Someone I thought I loved. I would have given up being Batman for her. But she chose someone else. And she died because of me.”

“You can’t blame yourself for that,” Clark told him.

“You don’t understand. The Joker … he was after me. After the Batman. He had her kidnapped. If I had just listened to Alfred in the first place …”

“There probably wouldn’t be a Gotham left.” Clark had heard enough to know that until the Batman had come along, the Mob had controlled the streets. Then another group had decided the city wasn’t worth saving and had plunged the streets into chaos.

As sympathetic as he was to Bruce’s loss, he knew it was no reason to stop doing what he did. Lois knew and understood the risks perfectly well. She had chosen him in spite of those risks telling him that she would rather risk everything than risk nothing and lose the love of her life. He felt the same way.

After everything that had happened with Lana, he had often wondered if he was meant to be alone. Then Lois and Kally had come along and he’d finally felt he’d found something worth holding onto.

“You can’t help who you fall in love with,” he said. “I used to date this girl. Lana. I thought I loved her but there were so many things that kept cropping up between us. It wasn’t just my secrets. It was a lot of things. Even when I was with her, I still felt … alone.”

“Well, of course. I can only imagine how it feels to know that you’re the only survivor of a distant planet.”

“Then I met Lois and I didn’t feel so alone. Even before she knew my secret I felt there was something different about her. I guess in many ways, because of her dad, she understood what it was like to feel … I don’t know … like an alien. I mean, they were always moving and she’d have to start at a new school just about every year. Even if the other kids at the school were also army brats, they at least had someone they could talk to about things. She never felt that way with her dad. It’s different now – I mean, they’re really close now.”

Bruce nodded. “I can remember going back to school after my parents had died and the kids just looking at me like I’d suddenly grown another head. So, I can understand from that angle.”

Clark realised the other man put up walls to protect himself. Much the same as Lois had put up walls. Even in the beginning, when he’d first found out about Kally, she had been wary of him. Only by showing her that he was prepared to do his share had she learned to trust him and let her guard down.

“Is there anyone you really trust in your life?” Clark asked.

“Alfred,” he replied. “And Commissioner Gordon, I guess. As Batman, anyway.”

Clark nodded. He could understand why Bruce trusted so few people. Having lost his parents at a young age, it would have been difficult for him to know who was trustworthy. It seemed a shame, though, that he didn’t have any friends.

When he asked about friendships, the older man just sighed.

“You and I come from such different worlds. And I don’t mean the fact that you’re from some planet I’ve never heard of. You were raised on a farm, with loving parents.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m naïve,” Clark told him. “If anything, having my abilities made it twice as hard for me to trust anyone. Right from when I was young, my parents told me to always be careful about using my abilities in case someone saw.”

He told the other man about his friendship with Lex and the reporter and police detective who had tried to exploit his abilities.

“And these men were connected to Lex?”

Clark nodded. “Phalen helped Lex’s father cover up some of his worst offences and I think he hired Nixon to investigate the accident. The thing about Lex is, he just couldn’t accept what had happened and had to dig deeper. Even when he said he’d stopped digging, he hadn’t. He just got better at covering it up, I guess.”

“I, of course, know Lex through various circles. The Luthors have always been known as ruthless in business and in their personal lives. Lex has got worse in the past few years. You’d do well to steer clear of him.”

“As much as I want to, I can’t. Someone has to keep him in check. Besides, I’m sure he thinks he knows something about me and I have to protect Lois and Kally. My daughter might not be showing abilities now, but that doctor did tell Lois he saw something unusual in her bloodwork. If Lex were to discover the truth, he’d come after her again.”

“I have my own concerns about Lex,” Bruce told him. “I can understand your worries. I still think you need to stay away. The more you try to interfere in his schemes, the more he’ll want revenge.”

“If not us, then who?” Clark said.

Bruce offered a knowing smile. Clark gazed at him.

“Green Arrow? What is he doing? Why is he doing it?”

“Because, like you, he believes in justice.”

“That isn’t enough of an answer.”

“You’ll have to ask him then. Speaking of whom …”

“If you’re asking if we know, no. We’ve been kind of busy. What with studying for finals and Lois’ dad’s wedding coming up.”

Bruce nodded. “I see. What do you plan to do with your degree?”

“We both decided to major in journalism.”

The other man didn’t seem so certain. “How are you going to juggle your Blur duties and write articles at the same time?”

“Well, that’s the beauty of having a partner who knows everything about me,” Clark said. “Lois can cover for me.”

“Is she going to write about your Blur exploits as well? Isn’t that a conflict of interest?”

“Only if there’s some kind of monetary gain or if there’s politics involved,” Clark told him. He had come across the same issue in his Ethics 101 paper. His professor had even included his father’s job as a senator as an object lesson. Since Clark knew very well he couldn’t cover anything his father was involved in, the point was moot.

Where the Blur was concerned, he felt it was a completely different situation. The Blur was out stopping muggings, or helping people in accidents. Any stories covering that would be the same as someone covering any other crime story.

“It would be different if Lois was asked to do a human-interest piece interviewing the Blur,” he said. “She wouldn’t be able to do that because she’d run the risk of exposing something personal about me that any other reporter wouldn’t know. She gets that.”

“I see. Well, you’ve certainly given me something to think about, Clark.”

“Smallville?”

Clark looked over the railing down to the floor of the barn. Lois stood at the bottom of the stairs with Kally in her arms. He had been so busy talking to Bruce that he hadn’t heard the car, or realised how late it was.

“Lois,” he said with a smile.

She grinned and started up the stairs. He stood at the top of the steps and kissed her in greeting.

“Hey you,” she said. “Hope the munchkin didn’t distract you too much from studying.”

“Daddy played horsie,” Kally told her mother. She looked as if she’d only just awoken from her nap. Lois smiled down at her.

“Did he now? I wish I could have seen that.”

“It was rather cute,” Bruce said. Clark frowned. ‘Cute’ wasn’t a word he expected to hear from the billionaire’s mouth.

“I bet. Hello, Bruce. Martha told me you were here visiting.”

“Just for a couple of days. Clark and I were just chatting.”

“Oh?” Lois raised an eyebrow at him before looking down at the sleepy-eyed toddler who was reaching her arms out for her father. Clark took his daughter, glancing between his girlfriend and the older man. Lois was doing her best to sound friendly but she was still a little guarded in her tone.

“How is the study going?” Bruce asked politely. “I hear you have an exam tomorrow.”

She nodded. “Psych 101.” They had had to take a science subject for their first year as part of their major requirements. Clark had chosen geography while Lois had decided on Psychology, saying studying maps wasn’t really her cup of tea. He’d tried to tell his girlfriend it was more than studying maps, but she had still refused. He’d figured the subject would help him when he had to travel further afield to help in other incidents.

Clark’s father called up to tell them dinner would be ready in a few minutes and to go in the house to wash up. They made their way to the yellow farmhouse where Clark helped his mother set the table.

Lucy offered to take Kally and play with her for a few minutes. Clark watched Lois’ sister babble to her niece before he turned back to the kitchen. He heard Lois quietly explaining to their visitor that her father didn’t know about Clark. Bruce murmured an agreement not to mention anything.

Finally, they all sat down to dinner. The General and Bruce began a discussion about some deal the army was doing with Wayne Tech. For all his efforts at trying to portray himself to the rest of the world as an empty-headed playboy, Bruce showed nothing of that in his conversation with Lois’ father. He clearly knew exactly what was going on in his own company.

Clark wondered how the Gotham billionaire was able to create all the tools Batman used when apprehending criminals in his city, but guessed it had to be developed by someone in the company.

He asked the man about it later that evening as Lois sat in the parlour with her father and stepmother as they talked about the weekend.

“Well, yes, you’re right. Most of it was developed in my research division. Why do you ask?”

“Wouldn’t they know it’s company property? I mean, how do you stop them from working out you’re Batman?”

“We have a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy,” Bruce said, looking a little uncomfortable with the line of questioning.

“In other words, they know, but they pretend they don’t? How can you trust them, then? I thought you trusted only Alfred and the commissioner?”

“All right, so maybe there is one other person I trust. Believe me, I did my due diligence.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.”

“Well, let me put it this way. You have a few people you trust with your secret. Like Lois. Chloe. Why do you trust them and not others? How did you know Lois wouldn’t tell her father?”

Clark nodded. He was right. Sure, when he’d told Lois, he’d also made her realise there was much more at stake than his secret. There was Kally as well. But from the moment they’d met, he’d instinctively felt like she was someone he could eventually trust with everything he kept hidden. As for Chloe, she’d learned the truth, or at least part of it, and kept it secret for months. She’d earned his trust.

“Because they earned it,” he said.

A short time later, Lois came out to the porch with their daughter. Kally was sound asleep, her cheek pressed against her mother’s shoulder, mouth slightly open. The look was adorable.

“What have you two been talking about?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing much.”

Lois shot him a look as if to say she didn’t believe a word of it. She sighed.

“Well, we have to get the munchkin home to bed. I have to be up early for my exam tomorrow.”

Bruce smiled at her. “I wish you luck for your exam. I’m sure you’ve worked very hard.”

She had, Clark thought. Juggling her studies with work and taking care of a toddler wasn’t easy but she was determined to do well.

He rubbed her arm. “You’ll do great,” he said. “I have faith in you.”

“Rightbackatcha, farmboy,” she said fondly.

Bubsy and her father came out, followed by Lucy. “Thanks for the hospitality, Martha, Jonathan. We’ll see you both on Saturday.”

“We’re looking forward to it, Sam,” Clark’s mother told him.

The General smiled and put an arm around his fiancée. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get the girls home before a certain young lady wakes up and raises a ruckus.”

Clark kissed his girlfriend and watched her follow her family down the steps and into the car. He noticed Bruce watching as well.

“I have to say, you’re a lucky man, Clark Kent. Lois is one-in-a-million.”

“Yes, she is,” Clark replied. “Yes, she is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait between chapters. Have been working on my seventh novel and will soon be editing my non-fiction project. Expect posting to be a bit sporadic for the time being.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the General's big day

Lois woke with the alarm clock and was tempted to roll over and go back to sleep again, until she realised what day it was. Her father’s wedding day. She quickly got out of bed and looked over at the crib. Kally was sleeping on her side, her thumb in her mouth. She decided it was best to let her daughter sleep for a little while longer. It would at least help keep her out of the way while they worked to prepare the inn for the event.

Bubsy was already in the kitchen cooking up a storm. She was in sweats, clearly wanting to make sure she didn’t get her good clothes dirty. Lois put the baby monitor down on the counter.

“Anything I can do to help, Mom?” she asked.

Bubsy looked at her. “No, sweetie. It’s all under control in here. Why don’t you go help your dad decorate the parlour?”

She glanced out into the main room. Clark was already there, helping her father, while Lucy was directing proceedings.

“No, it’s crooked,” her sister was saying as the two men worked together to pin up fairy lights.

Lois went out as her boyfriend and her father both shot Lucy exasperated looks.

“I don’t think it’s meant to be perfect, Luce,” she said, wrapping an arm around the younger girl. Clark looked at her.

“Kally still asleep?” he asked.

She nodded. “And I’m hoping she stays that way for the time being. Last thing we need is a two-year-old underfoot.”

The General grinned. “Yeah, Lord knows, I know what that’s like. Especially when there were two of you.” He chuckled. “Your mom was working part-time at the commissary and I decided to arrange a surprise party for her birthday. You were almost four and Lucy was about two. Both of you wanted to get in on the act.” He grinned at Clark. “There I was, trying to hang up … crepe paper or something, and Little Lo was tugging on it saying she wanted to help. Lucy was crying because I wouldn’t let her play with the paper and suddenly it all comes down. Ella walked in the door just as all the crepe paper fell off. There was just about enough of it to cover Lucy and Lois began yelling at the top of her lungs, ‘S’prise, Mommy!’”

Clark was already laughing. Lois sent him a glare, telling him silently that he better not be thinking of holding it over her.

“Well, Ella was surprised all right,” the General said. “We all ended up in a heap on the floor, we were laughing so hard.”

Lucy was giggling. Lois even had to fight the urge to laugh. Bubsy came out of the kitchen and asked what was so funny. It was obvious the General had already told her this story as he gave her the short version. She smiled, kissing her fiancé on the cheek.

Lois wasn’t surprised at the story. Her father had told her a few stories from her childhood, especially funny incidents. She’d always known the older man had been far less gruff before her mother died. He’d once told her he had regretted the fact that he had been more concerned with his career than his family and if he’d been able to do it all again, he would have done things differently. As much as she knew that wasn’t possible, she appreciated the thought all the same.

Not long after her father and Bubsy had got engaged, she had broached the subject of her mother to the older woman. Bubsy had looked thoughtful.

“Well, look at it this way, sweetie. If it hadn’t been for your mother, you would never have existed, we wouldn’t have met, and I wouldn’t have met your father in turn. I know he still loves your mom, but I also know there is room in his heart for me.”

Lois smiled and hugged her future stepmother. “You know, that’s a really beautiful way of looking at it.”

“Your mother was a wonderful woman and it would be wrong of me to not acknowledge that. Your father feels the same way about Will’s father.”

Lois watched as her father and Bubsy talked and laughed together as they continued decorating the room. Clark wrapped his arms around her waist. She smiled and looked up at him.

“Think we’ll be like that someday?” she asked.

“Sure we will,” he said. “But I know what you’re thinking. And it’s okay to think about your mom today. I think she’d be happy your dad found someone he could let into his life. From all he’s told me about her, she would have wanted him to move on. Not spend the rest of his days alone.”

She let him take her hand and they wandered out to the back of the Inn, sitting on the bench in the garden. The men had erected an arbour along the side of the building and it had been decorated with flowers, so it would act as an entrance for the bride as she walked down the path to her groom.

“I think about us sometimes. About how I used to worry about being alone. I never thought I’d find someone who could really accept me, warts and all. It’s not just about being … what I am,” he said. “It’s having someone believe in me.”

“I do, you know,” she said softly. “I believe in you using your abilities to help people. It’s kind of like Bubsy is always telling me. Things happen for a reason. You were sent here for a reason – to guide us to a better future, so what happened on Krypton doesn’t happen here.” She turned to gaze at him. “But you know what else? I believe that the reason we met is so that you could find someone who could remind you to take a rest, to make it easier for you to do what you have to do.”

Clark nodded. “Your dad told me something a while ago. People would look up to him as a hero, and you know, that was great, but in some ways, being a hero is actually a lot harder than being, well, normal. You know? I mean, people put heroes on pedestals and it’s hard for them when the heroes let them down.”

“You wouldn’t though. You wouldn’t let us down. I mean, I know you’re not perfect. And yeah, you’ll probably make some mistakes along the way, but that’s part of being human.” She looked at him. “And don’t try to tell me you’re not human. Humanity has nothing to do with what planet we’re born on, Smallville. It’s who we are as people.”

He squeezed her hand. “That’s why we’re perfect for each other, Lois. I mean, I think one day you’re going to be a great reporter, and you know what they say … behind every great woman …” He grinned.

“I think that’s the other way around,” she said.

“You know what I mean, though. We’re partners. Equals. Just because I have powers, it doesn’t change that.”

His expression changed and she could tell he was listening. “Sounds like the munchkin’s awake,” he said. He got up. “I’ll go get her.”

She watched as he rose from the bench and walked down the path to her cabin, opening the door. A few minutes later, he came back out again with a sleepy-eyed toddler in his arms. Despite the fact she was clearly not fully awake, she was chattering away to her father and he was nodding as if he understood every word.

God, she loved him. She couldn’t wait for the day they would be together as a family. All three of them.

Lois was too busy over the next few hours to think about anything else, helping to sort out all the final arrangements for the wedding. Half an hour before the ceremony, she went upstairs to the room her father was using and knocked on the door.

“Daddy?”

“Come in, sweetheart.”

She entered the room, staring in wonder at her father in his dress uniform. He was just smoothing out any creases in the jacket. Lois stepped up to him and helped him with the remainder.

“You look so handsome, Daddy,” she said.

“Thank you, sweetheart.” He took in a deep breath. “I’m a little nervous.”

She understood, but couldn’t help teasing him a little anyway. “You, Daddy? The one who has faced down practically every boyfriend I’ve ever had and sent them packing?”

He chuckled. “I did, didn’t I? I’ll say one thing about Clark. He doesn’t intimidate easily, does he?”

“No, he doesn’t. I guess he thinks I’m worth sticking around for.”

“You are,” the General replied. “Don’t ever doubt that. I see you two and how special your relationship is. It kind of reminds me of when I first met your mother. Your grandfather, God rest his soul, was a hard man. I got put through an interrogation that would make grown men cry, but through it all, I was firm.”

“You really loved Mom, didn’t you?” she said, without a trace of grief.

He nodded. “I did. I still do. After all, she gave me two of the most precious gifts a man could ever need. You and your sister. But you know, I do love Annie.”

“I know. She once told me that she understood you will always love Mom, but it didn’t mean you didn’t have room in your heart for her. She makes you happy, and that’s all that’s ever mattered to me.”

“I am happy, Lo. Happier than I have been since I lost your mom. I know things were rough with us for a while …”

She shook her head. “No, Daddy, don’t.” As crazy as it sounded, the pain she’d gone through all those years was worth it so she could appreciate what she had now. “We made it through and we’re both better for it. I have Clark and Kally and you have Bubsy.”

He grinned and glanced at the clock. “Speaking of whom, it’s almost time to meet her at the altar.” He held his arm out for her. “Shall we?” he asked.

She grinned back. “We shall.”

The ceremony was going to be a little different. Lois was going to walk her father down the aisle and William was going to walk his mother down the aisle where they would meet at the altar. They would then ‘hand over’ their parents. Lois had never been one for tradition and had always thought the ceremonial handing over of the bride to the groom was rather sexist, since they didn’t do the same for the groom. Bubsy had been tickled with the idea.

Kally was doing her best as flower girl, although she didn’t quite understand what she was supposed to do. One of Bubsy’s friends had brought her three-year-old grandson to be ring bearer and he looked solemn as he walked down the aisle with a satin pillow held very carefully in both hands. Kally stopped in front of him, staring in wonder at her grandpa. The little boy bumped into her and looked very confused. Clark quickly got up and guided the children the rest of the way, amid snickers and ‘awws’ from the guests.

As she left her father at the altar, Lois exchanged a look with her sister, who was looking very pretty in a floral print dress with a soft, flowing style that suited her slender frame without appearing too tight. Lucy grinned back at her, glancing shyly at the young man who had accompanied her. Ron Troupe was a cub reporter at the Metropolis Journal. The couple had met when Lucy had gone with Lois to a press conference. Like Lois and Clark, he was in college, although he was a couple of years ahead of them.

The celebrant did the reading and had the couple exchange vows. Lois took her boyfriend’s hand and squeezed it. He turned to smile at her. One day, she thought, that was going to be them. Nothing was official yet, but they were always talking about the day they would get married. Clark didn’t go to church, but he knew his parents wanted him to get married in the same chapel they had married in more than twenty years ago. Lois’ father had also asked for the same thing and given that they’d moved around so much while she was growing up, Smallville was as close to a permanent home as she would ever know.

Then again, she remembered something her mother had told her long ago. She’d been maybe five, and complaining about them having to move to another base. She didn’t remember all the previous moves, but it had happened at least twice since she was born, from what she understood. Ella had taken her aside.

“I know it’s hard moving to a new place, sweetheart, but it’s not the house that makes the home. It’s the people we love.”

At that age, Lois hadn’t quite understood what she meant, but she now knew what her mother had been trying to tell her. It was rather like the saying ‘home is where the heart is’. Her heart was in Smallville, with Kally and Clark, with her father and Bubsy.

Once the ceremony was over, the photographer from the base began taking candid shots. Both Bubsy and the General had agreed that candid shots were better than posed shots, although the couple had already had a sitting that was just for them.

She stood watching as Bruce Wayne chatted quietly with Clark’s parents and Bubsy. Her father came to stand beside her. He was holding Kally in his arms. The toddler was eating one of the pigs in blankets and had ketchup all over her face.

“All right, sweetheart?” he asked.

“I’ve kind of been thinking a lot about Mom today,” she said.

“I know. So have I.”

“She’d love Bubsy.”

“Yes, she would. And I know she’d be happy that I’m not going to be spending the rest of my days alone. I have you and Lucy, but …”

“I know, Daddy. It’s different. It’s like me and Clark.”

Kally squirmed in her grandfather’s arms, wanting to be let down and he put her down. She immediately toddled off to explore the garden.

He turned to look at Clark, who was chatting with Chloe and Lucy. He occasionally glanced at her, sending her a reassuring smile. “He’s a good man, Lo. You can say I’m being a little sexist, or whatever, but I’m happy knowing that you have someone who will protect you and your children.” He turned back to her with a cheesy grin. “Don’t think I’m not aware just how much trouble you can get into. Between you and Lucy, you were always the one who tended to get into mischief more. Not bad stuff, honey. You were just curious. Always asking questions. I suppose that’s what will make you a good journalist.”

Lois hadn’t been so sure of her career decision at first, but now that she had written a couple of stories, she could safely say that she loved the thought of going after people like Lex and exposing the truth about them.

Speak of the devil, she thought, as the very man walked over to Clark. Lois had personally sent the invitations and Lex hadn’t been on the list. Chloe shot the man a glare that was almost glacial before wandering away to get some food. As her father went over to join his new wife, Lois joined her boyfriend, managing to catch what the bald man was saying.

“You didn’t think I’d miss the biggest social occasion in Smallville.”

“I guess not, Lex,” Clark said. His tone was cool as he spoke, but he smiled as if trying to maintain the pretence of civility.

“Actually, my parents wanted it just to be an intimate occasion,” Lois told him. “Close friends and family.”

“Of course,” the man said with a slight smirk. “Since I was working with the General summer before last to protect your cousin, I imagined that would have made me an exception to the rule.”

She dearly wanted to kick him for his audacity. The fact that he had helped protect Chloe, who had been a witness in the trial to put his own father in prison was clearly irrelevant to him.

The two toddlers distracted her for a second, chasing each other around the garden. Kally had already got her pretty dress dirty. Shaking her head, Lois turned to look back at Lex, who was staring after the toddler with a strange kind of expression. Immediately her hackles went up. The bald billionaire appeared to notice her watching him and smiled.

“She gets prettier every time I see her. Must be her father’s good genes.”

Clark smiled, but Lois knew him well enough to know he was about to go into Papa Bear mode. He might have teased her about the way she had done the same with Bruce, but he was twice as bad. She decided the best thing to do would be to pull him away.

“Um, honey,” she said, grasping his arm. “I’m hungry. Why don’t we go get something to eat?”

He looked at her and nodded. “Okay. See you later, Lex,” Clark responded.

“Later, Clark.”

They grabbed some plates and helped themselves to the food. Clark leaned in to speak quietly to her.

“Thanks,” he said. “I was about to say something stupid.”

“Not stupid,” she told him. “Understandable. I thought you were about to deck him, actually.”

“Thought about it,” he replied.

He looked up as they heard the sound of a squeal, then laughed. Lois saw Jonathan had Kally in his arms, or rather, was hanging her almost upside down. The toddler was giggling, clearly enjoying the game.

“I know you worry Lex might try something,” she said. If she was honest, that was on her mind a lot, but they couldn’t wrap their daughter in bubble paper either. They had to trust her grandparents and her aunt, who had become even more protective of her niece, and Chloe, to take care of her when they couldn’t.

When she had first considered going to college, she had thought maybe she was being selfish, leaving her daughter with her grandparents, but all four parents had assured her that the best thing she could do for Kally was get her degree so she could create a good life for her little girl. Otherwise she could spend the next eighteen years working in a job that, as much as she loved her new stepmother, wasn’t fulfilling. If she wanted to be a good example to her child, she had to follow her own dreams. Not leave them behind.

“It’s not that,” Clark told her. “I mean, yeah, I worry he’s going to try to take her again like he did last year, but … I don’t know. I mean, I thought he was my best friend. For four years. How could I have trusted him?”

“People change, Smallville.” She remembered something Clark had told her months ago. That Lex had told him that their friendship had helped him fight the darkness inside him. While that might have sounded great on the surface, she often wondered if it was more that he refused to take responsibility for all the bad decisions he’d made in his life and pushed the blame onto Clark. As if her boyfriend was the bald man’s moral compass. As far as she was concerned, a person should be strong enough not to give in to their darkness.

They ate, continuing to watch the guests. Their daughter seemed happy enough playing with her grandparents, but they noticed she always gave Lex a wide berth.

About an hour or so later, Lois stepped out into the garden. She had been helping one of the maids clean up and had come out for more dishes to find Lex and Bruce talking. Both appeared to be trying to act cool for the benefit of those around them, but she could read the anger coming from the two men. They were clearly arguing about something.

Clark came over with a tub full of dishes.

“What are they arguing about?” Lois asked, nodding her head toward the two billionaires.

“Lex apparently found out that Bruce was working with my dad on something. I think he had his eye on the project and lost the bid to Bruce.”

“Given the state of his company’s finances, I shouldn’t wonder he’s upset,” she said, having just a little bit of sympathy for the man. She still felt that he had done it to himself, however. With the senate campaign and the various projects he was involved in, it was little wonder the balance sheet had taken a severe beating.

Clark went on to explain that the project Bruce was working on was something to do with a charitable foundation helping children who were unable to access a proper education. It had been a big part of Jonathan’s campaign. It sounded to Lois like Lex was trying to drum up some good PR by wanting to get involved in the project. That and he was probably hoping that if he appeared to be altruistic then he could hide his less-than-savoury dealings.

Lionel might have been ruthless and unethical, but that fact had never really been hidden. His criminal past might have only come to light in the past few years, Lois thought, but everyone she knew had always known Lionel was not the ‘gentleman’ he claimed to be. He could dress it up in a business suit, but he could never rid himself of the stain of having been raised in Suicide Slums.

Lex, on the other hand, was becoming adept at hiding his own unethical activities behind a veneer of respectability.

She started to step aside to let Clark take the tub into the kitchen when her father came out with Bubsy.

“You need to come with me,” he said, indicating both her and Clark. She frowned. He didn’t seem upset.

“Is anything wrong, Dad?” she asked.

“Just come with me,” he replied.

They followed him inside and up the stairs to his room. Or his and Bubsy’s now, Lois thought. There on the floor beside the bed were Kally and the little boy who had been the ring bearer, curled up on the sheepskin rug, fast asleep, their faces so close if it wasn’t for the thumbs in their mouths, they could have been kissing.

“Aww, I need to get a picture of this,” she said.

Clark laughed at her. “Why? So you can hold it over her when she turns twenty-one?”

Her father grinned and handed over his phone. “Already thought of that,” he said. She looked at the screen. He’d taken a snap of the two children.

Kally chose that moment to wake up and she stared at the adults in confusion.

“Mommy?” she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes. Lois bent and picked her up.

“It’s all right, sweetie.” She held her close and turned to Clark, who stroked their daughter’s hair.

“Getting started early, huh, Munchkin?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the sporadic posting. I've just spent the last two months getting two books ready for publishing. In two weeks, I also start studying full-time, so I don't know how much time I'm going to have for these stories. I'll try my best though.


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